Return to food protectionism is riling farmers in Argentina Jonathan Gilbert, Bloomberg FacebookTwitterEmail Alberto Fernandez, then Argentina's president-elect, leaves from a news conference following a meeting with Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Mexico's president, in Mexico City on Nov. 4, 2019.Bloomberg photo by Alejandro Cegarra. A ban on corn exports in Argentina is fanning fear among farmers and traders that one of the world's top food suppliers is returning to an era of brutal meddling in crop markets. The measure creates yet another driver for surging global grain futures, given Argentina is the third-largest shipper of corn, and stokes concern of an up-tick in food nationalism around the world as the pandemic disrupts trade.