Trade progress – or the lack therein – was a major topic of discussion for U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, during an AgriTalk segment earlier this week.
Grassley told AgriTalk Host Chip Flory that President Joe Biden’s administration is “scared of two words,” in his opinion.
“They don’t like the words free trade, and they don’t like the words trade agreements,” said Grassley. “Those are very important words if you’re negotiating with other countries, but they’re not negotiating down tariffs, and that’s absolutely necessary to have prosperity in American agriculture.”
Grassley said the one positive he could share is that the administration has taken initial steps toward settling the dispute with Mexico over its decision to ban U.S. shipments of genetically modified (GMO) corn. But the last concrete measure taken, he added, was in early March. Read more here: US Nears USMCA Dispute With Mexico Concerning GMO Corn
Specifically, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office announced on March 6 it had called for consultations with Mexico over the potential ban, according to an AP article.
Mexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador vowed on March 7 to not back down in a dispute with the U.S. over the potential ban.
Mexico is the single biggest export market for U.S. corn, buying about $3 billion worth of corn annually, most of which is GMO-based.
Countdown to Implementing USMCA Dispute Settlement Process
Grassley, the longest-serving Republican in U.S. Senate history, said he pressed U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai during a Senate Finance Committee meeting last Thursday to take more decisive action on the situation.
“(I told her) you have to take another step and actually institute the dispute settlement process,” Grassley said, referencing the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) implemented in 2020. The agreement is supposed to support mutually beneficial trade leading to freer markets, fairer trade, and robust economic growth across North America. Free-Trade Approach Pushed on the Biden Administration is Met with Backlash
Under the USMCA, Mexico and the U.S. would have 30 days from Tai’s initial request for consultation – until April 7 – to take action on settling the dispute.
If there is no resolution, the U.S. can initiate a dispute settlement under USMCA, reports Bryan Goodman, National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) director of policy communications. Once that is set in motion, a group of experts will be empaneled to hear the case and make final determinations based on the commitments both parties signed as part of the free trade agreement, Goodman adds.
Grassley said when he pressed U.S. Trade Representative Tai last week, she “talked around whether or not she’s going to do that. I said, ‘we’ve been talking about this stuff since December of 2020 with Mexico, and we’re making no progress.’ The dispute settlement process needs to be instituted to bring finality to this dispute. I didn’t get an answer from her on that (April 7 deadline) but she knows what I expect.”
To hear the full conversation on AgriTalk between Grassley and Flory, which includes a discussion on the farm bill and the Pharmacy Benefit Managers Transparency Act, click here:
