THE MEXICO MAIZE

Navigating Mexico's ban of genetically modified corn.

- CASSIDY WALTER

A Mexican presidential decree outlawing genetically modified (GM) corn has put the U.S.'s largest corn export market at risk. And if the situation is left unchecked, experts say, it could jeopardize other markets.

Mexico has been the top buyer of U.S. corn exports for seven of the past 10 years, according to data from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service. In 2023 Mexico bought about $5.4 billion worth of U.S. corn. According to the National Agricultural Law Center (NALC), GM corn accounts for over 90% of the crop grown in the U.S. 

“The short-term piece is, if we lose our No. 1 market, that’s obviously very bad,” says Andrew Brandt, director of trade policy for the U.S. Grains Council. “The longer-term piece, if they ban biotechnology without any sound science, they will have unjustly stigmatized plant science and biotechnology for the whole world.” 

Ted McKinney, CEO of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA), echoed that sentiment. “If Mexico is given a pass on this in any way,” he says, “it is a statement and a recognition that the world can play games by ignoring the scientific rigor needed in making policy decisions. You cannot set that precedent.”

NASDA members in the U.S. meet annually with their counterparts in Mexico and Canada. “We know the industry down there is frustrated beyond belief,” McKinney says. “All of them see the downside when you don’t pay attention to science.” 

THE CONFLICT

In 2020, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) went into effect, replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). That same year, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador issued a decree that included a ban of GM corn from human diets by Jan. 31, 2024. According to NALC, López Obrador’s goal was to “promote food security and sovereignty and protect native corn.”