NCGA
Applauds Progress on WTO Case Against Mexico (6-23-04)
The National
Corn Growers Association (NCGA) is encouraged by the U.S. Trade
Representative’s request Tuesday for the assemblage of a World
Trade Organization (WTO) panel to hear the U.S. case against Mexico
for its discriminatory soft drink tax.
“It’s
unfortunate this situation hadn’t been resolved sooner,”
said NCGA Chairman Fred Yoder, who serves on a sweetener task force
that has attempted to settle the trade dispute outside of the courts.
“We hate to see it progress all the way to the WTO, but hopefully
this case will enhance our ability to get something done about this
issue. It's encouraging to see the USTR moving forward with this.”
Yoder said U.S.
corn growers have suffered significant financial losses due to the
tax, which was enacted by Mexico in 2002. Businesses that invested
in the high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) market also suffered, as
did the companies that produce and transport HFCS.
“It’s been devastating to the entire industry,”
Yoder said. “Lots of corn growers and some major processing
companies took a big hit because of this. This is not what was promised
by NAFTA.”
According to
the Corn Refiners Association, for every 2 million metric tons of
HFCS access into Mexico, the U.S. corn industry has lost $620 million
annual HFCS export sales; more than $300 million annual corn sales;
133 million bushels of bulk corn production; 945.7 thousand acres
of corn production; and additional losses to seed, fertilizer and
farm machinery industries and related rural investment.