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AG SEC'Y VILSACK REPORTS VAST MAJORITY OF U.S. CORN EXPORTED TO MEXICO IS YELLOW, NOT WHITE
Jun. 27, 2023
Agri-Pulse reports:
Mexico, in an effort to strengthen the country's domestic corn and tortilla producers, is placing a 50% tariff on white corn imports for the rest of 2023, but U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack downplayed the action, saying it would have little impact on U.S. exports.
"Well, the good news is that the vast, vast, vast majority of corn that's sold to Mexico from the U.S. is yellow corn - somewhere between 96 (and) 97% of all exports from the U.S. to Mexico is yellow corn, and obviously the tariff has no impact or effect on those sales at all," Vilsack told reporters Monday.
But white corn and the ability of the U.S. to sell it to Mexican buyers are at the heart of an ongoing USMCA dispute between the two countries. Mexico in February banned tortilla companies from using flour made of genetically modified white corn, effectively banning imports of the biotech grain from the U.S.
Take note: Vilsack stressed that Mexico's biotech ban has already shut down the ability of the U.S. to export white corn to Mexico.
"It's inconsistent with a science-based and rules-based trading system," Vilsack said. "And that's the reason why we are pursuing our remedies under the USMCA. One of the benefits of USMCA is that it provides this mechanism for resolving disputes."
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