CITY OF MEXICO — Mexico imposed as of Saturday a tariff from 50% to import of white corn with the aim of boosting national production and avoiding the entry of genetically modified grain, according to the ruler Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
The measure, published the day before in the Official Gazette of the Federation, will be in force until the end of the year and takes place in the midst of the open trade dispute with the United States and Canada over transgenic corn.
White corn was one of the foods in the basic basket that was exempted from tariffs at the beginning of the year in an attempt by the government to control inflation in the country. But according to the decree, this decision “has not generated a significant impact on the decrease in prices in the national market, so it is considered appropriate to eliminate it.”
Annual headline inflation is already considered more or less controlled by the government. It was located in May at 5.84%.
Mexico imports little white corn —the kind used for human consumption— mainly from the United States and South Africa. But since the imposition of tariffs clashes, in principle, against the North American free trade agreement, it could complicate the commercial dispute that the country already has with Washington and Canada over the trade in genetically modified corn.
Mexico wants to restrict transgenic corn for human consumption —white— and, in the long run, also veto it for animal feed —yellow or fodder corn—, something that its two northern partners say would harm trade in the region. Only from the United States, Mexico has been importing transgenic yellow corn for years for an amount of about 3,000 million dollars a year because that product is deficient in the country.
Both the United States and Canada consider that Mexican fears of the dangers of this genetically modified corn are not supported by science and therefore activated an instrument to settle disputes that exists within the North American free trade agreement, the T-MEC, and that, if an agreement is not reached, it could end in sanctions.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has said that he is not afraid of controversy and has insisted that only the national white should be used for human consumption, first of all to support the Mexican market and also because the imported one, although cheaper, is modified genetically.
FUENTE: With information from AP
