Lawmakers vs. Biden Officials: Pressure Colombia over Corn Subsidy Investigation

The Biden administration should intervene to stop Colombia from launching an investigation into U.S. subsidies for corn growers, says a bipartisan group of lawmakers who argue new tariffs could jeopardize a key export market.

“Preserving market access is critical to the interests of American farmers,” the 39 lawmakers wrote to the Minister of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and US Trade Representative Katherine Tai. They were led by Senate Finance Committee members Todd Young, R-Ind., and Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and House Ways and Means Committee members Adrian Smith, R-Neb., and Dan Kildee, D-Mich.

The lawmakers were responding to reports that the Colombian government is considering an investigation into U.S. corn subsidies. A similar probe earlier this year in US milk powder resulted in countervailing duties on products destined for Colombia. The lawmakers argued that significant tariffs on corn exports could cause U.S. farmers to lose access to an export market worth about $1.14 billion.

“We urge you to take the existing bilateral dialogue on this issue to the next level to avoid arbitrary trade restrictive measures,” the lawmakers wrote. “American farmers cannot afford to lose such a vital export market, especially when access to the most important U.S. corn export market, Mexico, is already at risk,” the lawmakers added, citing a dispute between the US and Mexico about the country’s ban on genetically modified white corn.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Assemblyman Mike Crapo of Idaho were also among the signatories, as was incoming Senate Agriculture Committee member Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.