Scott, Fischer, Duckworth, and Colleagues Press the Biden Administration on Mexico's Proposed Ban on U.S. Corn

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.) joined U.S. Senators Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) in authoring a bipartisan letter to the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture (USDA) expressing concern over Mexico’s efforts to ban certain American-grown corn. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s plans, which amount to unilaterally abandoning a long-held science-based regulatory system, would threaten 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. 

Joining Senators Scott, Fischer, and Duckworth on the letter are 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.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), John Thune (R-S.D.), and Rob Portman (R-Ohio).

The full text of the letter is available here.