Corn Growers Try Different Approach

May 23, 2000

The National Corn Growers Association spent Monday distributing bags of fortune cookies to members of Congress with a message promoting normal trade relations with China inside the bag.

Each fortune cookie contained a message such as "Why permanent normal trade relations with China? Because 1.28 billion people have to eat"; "1.28 billion people and growing. What will they eat?" or "It takes a lot of corn to feed 1.28 billion Chinese people. Fortunately we have some to sell."

An "overview" of trade with China also was included in the bags. It reviewed many of the familiar arguments in favor of PNTR and cautioned, "U.S. producers will not benefit from this agreement until all World Trade Organization accession negotiations are completed and Congress approves permanent normal trade relations with China."

The NCGA noted that although the United States has supplied almost all of China’s corn imports in recent years, China has been a "sporadic customer." U.S. corn exports to China peaked in 1994-95 at about 130 million bushels; in 1996-97 China imported no U.S. corn. The average for the last five marketing years is 47 million bushels.

"However we have the opportunity to immediately triple that average if, when China joins the WTO, the United States is prepared to grant China permanent normal trade relations," the NCGA told Congress.