Mexico looking at Argentina and Brazil as an alternative for US corn

Friday, February 17th 2017 - 10:25 UTC

Full article 8 comments

Mexican politicians are saber rattling against the US agriculture sector, and it looks like Argentina is ready to fill the gap. In effect Mexico's agriculture minister said on Thursday he will lead a business delegation to Argentina and Brazil to explore buying yellow corn, part of a drive to lessen Mexico's U.S. dependence given uncertainty over President Donald Trump's trade policies. Read full article

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Briton
Brazil is near bankruptcy and broke, in turmoil and ready for internal conflict,
and Argentina would just nationalise you when the going get rough.

Stick to the ones you trade with now,
the future looks bright.
Feb 17th, 2017 - 08:45 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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Hepatia
Not touched upon in this article is the plight of Mexican corn farmers under NAFTA. The fact that Mexico has been importing so much corn is a story in itself.
Feb 18th, 2017 - 05:40 am - Link - Report abuse 0
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Briton
Perhaps Mexico will be returned to Spain in the next 25 years..
that might help.
Feb 18th, 2017 - 08:24 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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:o))
REF: Corn: WHY isn't Mexico self-sufficient?
Feb 20th, 2017 - 01:03 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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DemonTree
It's more efficient (cheaper) to grow corn in the US and vegetables in Mexico, so that is what happened under Nafta. Plus Mexico needs more corn than it can grow to feed livestock, and the US has big subsidies on corn so it makes sense to buy from them... normally.
Feb 20th, 2017 - 08:30 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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:o))
Thanx, DT!

If it is cheaper to import corn from the USA; I doubt if Brazil can compete in price plus Brazil may not be producing sufficient corn to fulfill the needs of Mexico.
Feb 21st, 2017 - 12:58 am - Link - Report abuse 0
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DemonTree
No, I don't think Brazil or Argentina can compete on price, particularly with the additional transport costs. Plus I imagine corn ripens at a different time of year in the southern hemisphere so it may not be available when it's needed. It certainly would hurt Mexico as well as the US, so not ideal for them, but I guess the point is to remind the US govt that trade wars damage both parties. As long as Nafta is in place Mexico can't ban imports from the US anyway, but Trump wants to renegotiate it, so who knows.
Feb 21st, 2017 - 08:54 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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Captain Poppy
It's not just corn, as Mexico buys 50% of USA corn exports, they also buy around 20% of USA beef exports. As the 3rd largest trade partner to the USA with Mexico being the 2nd largest buyer of USA exports, there should be room to talk. While changing trade partners would hurt Mexico, but not as much as a developed nation as the USA in various sectors.
Feb 24th, 2017 - 06:20 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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