Former USTR Official Calls for Use of USMCA Enforcement in Mexico Ag Dispute
Former chief agricultural negotiator for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative Gregg Doud called for the use of the new enforcement mechanism in the USMCA during a House Agriculture Committee hearing May 11.
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Doud's comments came after a question from Rep. Brad Finstad, R-Minn., who asked if the EU and the U.K. were watching how the U.S. addressed the current Mexican ban on the importation of genetically modified corn (see 2303170057). Doud, chief economist for Aimpoint Research, said that while the EU and the U.K. are always watching, this decree was more about "domestic political consumption," adding that he doesn't think "it matters really what the science is to" Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador.
Obrador is "going to continue to do this," and so the U.S. needs to make the new enforcement mechanisms offered in the USMCA work. "We put a lot of effort into this brand new enforcement mechanism and USMCA," Doud said. "We need to use them," Doud said, adding that he thinks the U.S. is going to use the enforcement mechanism "in this case."
"That component of what we do in our trade policy is very, very important, because folks are going to cheat," Doud said, adding that Canada was already "doing the same thing," referencing its dairy tariff-rate quotas (see 2303220026). "We need to use the teeth in these agreements to get where we need to be at the end of the day," Doud said.
The ban on GMO corn has been modified slightly but technical consultations have begun through the USMCA on sanitary and phytosanitary chapters (see 2303060043). Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in March that USTR would begin sharing information with Mexico about the "safety of biotech products" in light of the ban (see 2303170057).