Mexico looks beyond the US for corn imports

Mexico is by far the largest buyer of American corn, but concern over the renegotiation of NAFTA could prompt Mexico to reduce ties with US agriculture. 

|
Kim Kyung-Hoon/REUTERS/File
A harvester unloads corn to a cargo truck at a farm in Gaocheng, Hebei province, China.

In response to widespread concern over the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) under the Trump administration, the Mexican agricultural sector is promoting an unfamiliar message: reduce ties to U.S. agriculture and look for new trading partners.|

 Citing indications of a possible 20 percent import tax, Mexican Senator Armando Rios Piter has introduced a bill to replace corn imports from the U.S. with those from Brazil and Argentina.

“It’s time to think about how to shift the place where we are putting our money,” said Rios Piter. “If we stop buying their corn, farmers would have a good idea how important Mexico is.”

It’s not only corn that could be affected by the renegotiation. The Consejo Coordinador Empresarial, one of Mexico’s largest business groups, has also announced that they will look for new sources of imported soy, corn, and wheat. Again citing fears about the renegotiation of NAFTA, particularly how it could impact Mexican import prices, the organization is taking a proactive approach. As Juan Pablo Castanon, the group’s President said, “We’d like to keep the trade deal as it is, but right now we have to look for alternative producers and Brazil and Argentina could work.”

Mexico is by far the largest buyer of U.S. corn, accounting for over 25 percent of annual U.S. corn exports, totaling US$2.5 billion in the 2015–2016 year. Losing a major buyer could push down corn prices nationwide, particularly affecting farm incomes in areas like the Midwest, which have mainly specialized in corn production.

The proposal to establish an import tariff is intended to balance U.S. imports and exports, as well as help pay for additional government spending. However, critics say that a sector like agriculture, which already enjoys a trade surplus, could be adversely impacted. The agricultural system is quite rigid, and in the U.S., it is structured to export staple crops while importing many of its fresh fruits and vegetables. In other words, while U.S. farmers look anxiously to changes in their export market, the U.S. food system as a whole could experience pressure and rising prices from imports.

Senator Rios Piter and others representing Mexican stakeholders argue that this tariff does not recognize the co-dependence between Mexican and U.S. agriculture. His proposed bill is in the early stage, however, Rios Piter’s initial intention of shifting the conversation surrounding the Mexico-U.S. trade relationship has sparked debate among American farmers, decisionmakers, and advocates.

The post Mexico Looks Beyond U.S. for Corn Imports appeared first on Food Tank.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Mexico looks beyond the US for corn imports
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Business/The-Bite/2017/0407/Mexico-looks-beyond-the-US-for-corn-imports
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe