Young, Colleagues Lead Letter Against Mexico’s Proposed Ban on Genetically Engineered Corn

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and a bipartisan group of senators sent a letter to the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) expressing concern over Mexico’s efforts to ban U.S. genetically engineered corn.

In 2020, Mexican President Lopez Obrador issued a presidential decree that Mexico would phase out the use of genetically modified corn by 2024. Such an action is unsupported by science and would run afoul of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA).

“These actions are unsupported by science and a breach of USMCA. It would be detrimental to food security in Mexico, hurt U.S. agricultural sustainability, and stifle future agricultural technology innovations that would benefit both nations. While we appreciate the efforts of USTR and USDA to resolve this issue by engaging with Mexican officials, we also encourage the administration to consider all options available in an effort to hold Mexico to their trade commitments including pursuing a dispute settlement process through USMCA,” the senators wrote in their letter. 

Additional cosigners of the letter include U.S. Senators John Boozman (R-Ark.), Debbie Stabebow (D-Mich.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Michael Rounds (R-S.D.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), John Thune (R-S.D.), and Rob Portman (R-Ohio).

The full text of the letter is available here.