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NCGA pushing for corn & ethanol’s inclusion in India trade deal

The president of the National Corn Growers Association says the organization is pushing the Trump administration to ensure corn is included in any new trade deal with India.

Kenneth Hartman, Jr. tells Brownfield India’s 1.4 billion people are an attractive market.

“We’re very happy that he’s working on emerging markets and India is one of them markets that we need to really work on.”  He says, “It’s also the largest biofuels market in the world. These are things that would be very, very positive for us when it comes to the corn growers.”

He says a new deal could remove current hurdles facing U.S. farmers.  

“They do have a 50% tariff against corn imports right now and they have severe restrictions against biotechnology.”  He says, “They basically are just working on, you know, domestic market protection for agriculture inputs going into that country.”

Hartman has hosted several Indian trade delegations on his southern Illinois farm, and he says the message he hears is they need American corn.

“They’re saying that their country and our country needs to work some of these things out because they need either ethanol coming in, or corn to produce ethanol.”  He says, “And at the same time, their farmers cannot produce enough for their livestock folks that are, you know, in the dairy and the poultry business.”

Hartman says greater access into India would bring increased corn and ethanol demand and higher prices for corn farmers.

NCGA estimates if the Indian government were to lift GMO restrictions, it could increase U.S. exports by $235 million and says India’s potential sustainable aviation fuel market could mean $434 million for U.S. corn farmers in just the first year of access.

The Trump administration has said it expects to have a trade deal framework in place with India within 90 days.

AUDIO: Kenneth Hartman, Jr. – NCGA president