Syngenta isn’t backing away from plans to continue marketing its Agrisure Viptera and Duracade corn hybrids to U.S. farmers next year, despite a lingering trade spat with China that has spawned lawsuits from U.S. farmers and grain handlers.

“We believe we have a safe technology and a very effective technology, and growers should have the right to plant this technology,” said Chuck Lee, head of Syngenta’s North America corn div­­ision.

China’s rejections of corn containing Syngenta’s Viptera trait, officially termed MIR 162, are a convenient way to protect that country’s own corn sector, Lee told reporters last month at Syngenta’s 2014 media summit in Washington, D.C.

Caught up in politics
The insect-control trait, which is approved in the U.S. and other major markets, has been awaiting approval in China for almost five years. China almost certainly imported some Viptera corn before deciding to disrupt imports in...