Mexico is able to hit the United States the place it hurts essentially the most: corn.
Mexico is likely one of the largest patrons of US corn on the earth at this time. And Mexican Senator Armando Ríos Piter, who heads a congressional overseas relations committee, says he’ll introduce a invoice this week that may have Mexico purchase corn from Brazil and Argentina as an alternative of the United States.
It is likely one of the first indicators of potential concrete actions by Mexico in response to President Trump’s threats in opposition to the nation.
“I’m going to ship an bill for the corn that we’re shopping for within the Midwest and … swap to Brazil or Argentina,” Ríos Piter, 43, advised CNN’s Leyla Santiago on Sunday at an anti-Trump protest in Mexico. City.
He added: It’s a “good method to inform them that this hostile relationship has penalties, I hope it adjustments.”
American corn enters into a lot of the nation’s meals. In Mexico City, from fine-dining eating places to avenue taco stands, corn-based favorites like tacos may be discovered in every single place.
Related: Daughter of a Mexican farmer: NAFTA destroyed us
The United States can be the world’s largest producer and exporter of corn. US corn shipments to Mexico have skyrocketed since NAFTA, a free commerce settlement signed between Mexico, the United States and Canada.
US farmers shipped $2.4 billion value of corn to Mexico in 2015, the latest 12 months for which knowledge is out there. In 1995, the 12 months following NAFTA’s entry into drive, corn exports to Mexico amounted to only 391 million {dollars}.
Experts say such a invoice could be very costly for American farmers.
“If we do see a commerce conflict the place Mexico begins shopping for from Brazil… we’ll see it have an effect on the corn market and spill over into the remainder of the agricultural financial system,” says Darin Newsom, a senior analyst at DTN, a administration agency. agricultural.
Ríos Piter’s invoice is one other signal of Mexico’s willingness to reply to Trump’s threats. Trump needs Mexico to pay for a border wall and has threatened taxes on Mexican imports starting from 20% to 35%.
Trump additionally needs to renegotiate NAFTA. He blames it for a flood of producing jobs in Mexico. A nonpartisan congressional investigative report discovered that to be unfaithful.
Related: Mexico redoubles its dedication to Trump’s ‘contingency plan’
Still, Trump says he needs a greater commerce deal for American employees, although he hasn’t stated what a greater deal would seem like.
All events signaled two weeks in the past that negotiations would begin in May after a 90-day session interval.
But Trump says that if negotiations do not outcome within the deal he needs, he’s threatening to tug out of NAFTA.
Such harsh speech will not be effectively acquired by Mexican leaders like Ríos Piter. He will not be alone. Mexico’s Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo stated in January that Mexico would reply “instantly” to any Trump tariffs.
“It may be very clear that we’ve got to be ready to have the ability to instantly neutralize the affect of a measure of this nature,” Guajardo stated on January 13 in a Mexican newscast.
–Shasta Darlington contributed reporting to this story
CNNMoney (Mexico City) First posted on February 13, 2017: 12:06 pm ET