title: North American Free Trade Agreement

text: Being "consistent with the president's stance on liking trade barriers, liking protectionism", Chad Bown of the Peterson Institute for International Economics suggested that the proposed changes would make NAFTA "in many respects less of a free-trade agreement." Additional concerns expressed by the US Trade Representative over subsidized state-owned enterprises and currency manipulation were not thought to apply to Canada and Mexico, but were intended rather to send a message to countries beyond North America.


title: North American Free Trade Agreement

text: John Murphy, vice-president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce declared that a number of the proposals tabled by the United States had "little or no support" from the U.S. business and agriculture community." Pat Roberts, the senior U.S. senator from Kansas, said it was not clear "who they're intended to benefit", and called for push back against the anti-NAFTA moves as the "issues affect real jobs, real lives and real people". Kansas is a major agricultural exporter, and farm groups warned that just threatening to leave NAFTA might cause buyers to minimize uncertainty by seeking out non-US sources.


title: North American Free Trade Agreement

text: A fourth round of talks included a U.S. demand for a sunset clause that would end the agreement in five years, unless the three countries agreed to keep it in place, a provision U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has said would allow the countries to kill the deal if it was not working. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with the House Ways and Means Committee, since Congress would have to pass legislation rolling back the treaty's provisions if Trump tries to withdraw from the pact.


title: North American Free Trade Agreement

text: From June to late August 2018, Canada was sidelined as the United States and Mexico held bilateral talks. On 27 August 2018 Mexico and the United States announced they had reached a bilateral understanding on a revamped NAFTA trade deal that included provisions that would boost automobile production in the U.S., a 10-year data protection period against generic drug production on an expanded list of products that benefits pharmaceutical companies, particularly US makers producers of high-cost biologic drugs, a sunset clause—a 16-year expiration date with regular 6-year reviews to possibly renew the agreement for additional 16-year terms, and an increased "de minimis" threshold in which Mexico raised the "de minimis" value to $100 from $50 regarding online duty- and tax-free purchases. According to an August 30 article in "The Economist", Mexico agreed to increase the rules of origin threshold which would mean that 75% as opposed to the previous 62.5% of a vehicle's components must be made in North America to avoid tariffs. Since car makers currently import less expensive components from Asia, under the revised agreement, consumers would pay more for vehicles. As well, approximately 40 to 45 per cent of vehicle components must be made by workers earning a minimum of US$16 per hour, in contrast to the current US$2.30 an hour that a worker earns on average in a Mexican car manufacturing plant. "The Economist" described this as placing "Mexican carmaking into a straitjacket".


title: North American Free Trade Agreement

text: Trudeau and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland announced that they were willing to join the agreement if it was in Canada's interests. Freeland returned from her European diplomatic tour early, cancelling a planned visit to Ukraine, to participate in NAFTA negotiations in Washington, D.C. in late August. According to an August 31 "Canadian Press" published in the "Ottawa Citizen", key issues under debate included supply management, Chapter 19, pharmaceuticals, cultural exemption, the sunset clause, and "de minimis" thresholds.


title: North American Free Trade Agreement

text: Although President Donald Trump warned Canada on September 1 that he would exclude them from a new trade agreement unless Canada submitted to his demands, it is not clear that the Trump administration had the authority to do so without the approval of Congress.


title: North American Free Trade Agreement

text: On September 30, 2018, the day of the deadline for the Canada–U.S. negotiations, a preliminary deal between the two countries was reached, thus preserving the trilateral pact when the Trump administration submits the agreement before Congress. The new name for the agreement was the "United States—Mexico—Canada Agreement" (USMCA) and came into effect on July 1, 2020.


title: North American Free Trade Agreement

text: Following Donald Trump's election to the presidency, a range of trade experts said that pulling out of NAFTA as Trump proposed would have a range of unintended consequences for the U.S., including reduced access to the U.S.'s biggest export markets, a reduction in economic growth, and increased prices for gasoline, cars, fruits, and vegetables. The worst affected sectors would be textiles, agriculture and automobiles.


title: North American Free Trade Agreement

text: According to Tufts University political scientist Daniel W. Drezner, the Trump administration's desire to return relations with Mexico to the pre-NAFTA era are misguided. Drezner argued that NAFTA made it easier for Mexico to transform to a real democracy and become a country that views itself as North American. If Trump acts on many of the threats that he has made against Mexico, it is not inconceivable that Mexicans would turn to left-wing populist strongmen, as several South American countries have. At the very least, US-Mexico relations would worsen, with adverse implications for cooperation on border security, counterterrorism, drug-war operations, deportations and managing Central American migration.


title: North American Free Trade Agreement

text: According to Chad P. Bown (senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics), "a renegotiated NAFTA that would reestablish trade barriers is unlikely to help workers who lost their jobs—regardless of the cause—take advantage of new employment opportunities".


title: North American Free Trade Agreement

text: According to Harvard economist Marc Melitz, "recent research estimates that the repeal of NAFTA would not increase car production in the United States". Melitz noted that this would cost manufacturing jobs.


title: North American Free Trade Agreement

text: If the original Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) had come into effect, existing agreements such as NAFTA would be reduced to those provisions that do not conflict with the TPP, or that require greater trade liberalization than the TPP. However, only Canada and Mexico would have the prospect of becoming members of the TPP after U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement in January 2017. In May 2017, the 11 remaining members of the TPP, including Canada and Mexico, agreed to proceed with a revised version of the trade deal without U.S. participation.


title: North American Free Trade Agreement

text: The American public was largely divided on its view of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), with a wide partisan gap in beliefs. In a February 2018 Gallup Poll, 48% of Americans said NAFTA was good for the U.S., while 46% said it was bad.


title: North American Free Trade Agreement

text: According to a journal from the "Law and Business Review of the Americas (LBRA)", U.S. public opinion of NAFTA centers around three issues: NAFTA's impact on the creation or destruction of American jobs, NAFTA's impact on the environment, and NAFTA's impact on immigrants entering the U.S.


title: North American Free Trade Agreement

text: After President Trump's election in 2016, support for NAFTA became very polarized between Republicans and Democrats. Donald Trump expressed negative views of NAFTA, calling it "the single worst trade deal ever approved in this country". Republican support for NAFTA decreased from 43% support in 2008 to 34% in 2017. Meanwhile, Democratic support for NAFTA increased from 41% support in 2008 to 71% in 2017.


title: North American Free Trade Agreement

text: The political gap was especially large in concern to views on free trade with Mexico. As opposed to a favorable view of free trade with Canada, whom 79% of American described as a fair trade partner, only 47% of Americans believed Mexico practices fair trade. The gap widened between Democrats and Republicans: 60% of Democrats believed Mexico is practicing fair trade, while only 28% of Republicans did. This was the highest level from Democrats and the lowest level from Republicans ever recorded by the Chicago Council Survey. Republicans had more negative views of Canada as a fair trade partner than Democrats as well.


title: North American Free Trade Agreement

text: NAFTA had strong support from young Americans. In a February 2017 Gallup poll, 73% of Americans aged 18–29 said NAFTA was good for the U.S, showing higher support than any other U.S. age group. It also had slightly stronger support from unemployed Americans than from employed Americans.


title: Highclere Castle

text: Highclere Castle is a Grade I listed country house built in 1679 and largely renovated in the 1840s, with a park designed by Capability Brown in the 18th century. The estate is in Highclere in Hampshire, England, about south of Newbury, Berkshire, and north of Andover, Hampshire. It is the country seat of the Earls of Carnarvon, a branch of the Anglo-Welsh Herbert family.


title: Highclere Castle

text: Highclere Castle has been used as a filming location for several films and television series, including 1990s comedy series "Jeeves and Wooster", and achieved international fame as the main location for the ITV historical drama series "Downton Abbey" (2010–15) and the 2019 and films based on it.


title: Highclere Castle

text: The house, Egyptian exhibition, and gardens are open to the public for self-guided tours during the summer months and at other times during the rest of the year, such as Christmas and Easter. The house also holds ticketed events, such as the Battle Proms picnic concert, and special guided tours throughout the year.


title: Highclere Castle

text: The first written records about the estate are dated 749 when an Anglo-Saxon king granted the estate to the Bishops of Winchester. The original site was also recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086. In the late 14th century William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester, built a medieval palace (bishop's residence) and gardens in the park. An itinerary of King Edward II lists him as spending 2 September 1320 with Rigaud of Assier, the Bishop of Winchester, at Bishop's Clere, alias Highclere. The same tour has him on 31 August 1320 at Sandleford Priory, where he apparently stayed for the night, and on 29 and 30 August he was at Crookham, Berkshire. In 1551 during the English Reformation King Edward VI confiscated the property from the Church of England.


title: Highclere Castle

text: Originally granted by the king to the Fitzwilliam family, Highclere Castle had several owners during the next 125 years.


title: Highclere Castle

text: The palace was rebuilt as Place House in 1679 when it was purchased by Sir Robert Sawyer, the Attorney General to Charles II and James II, who was a lawyer, MP, Speaker, and college friend of Samuel Pepys. In 1692, Sawyer bequeathed the mansion at Highclere to his only daughter, Margaret Sawyer, the first wife of the 8th Earl of Pembroke, Thomas Herbert. Their second son, Robert Sawyer Herbert, inherited Highclere, began its portrait collection and created the garden temples. His nephew and heir Henry Herbert was created Baron Porchester and later Earl of Carnarvon by George III.


title: Highclere Castle

text: In 1680 Sir Robert Sawyer presented the living of Highclere to the Rev. Isaac Milles (1638–1720), the elder, who remained there till his death. White Oak was the parsonage where Milles took pupils, including the many children of Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke, by marriage the new proprietor of Highclere. The Rev. Isaac Milles (fl. 1701–1727), the younger, carried on his father's school at Highclere. The daughter of Milles, the younger, Elizabeth married Reverend Richard Pococke, LL.B. (1660–1710) and had the Rt. Rev. Richard Pococke (1704–1765), who having been educated by his grandfather Milles, at his school at Highclere rectory, went on to become domestic chaplain to Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, and then Bishop of Ossory and Meath, and a renowned travel writer and orientalist.


title: Highclere Castle

text: Bishop Pococke was one of the first to collect seeds of the Cedar of Lebanon which he did during his tour of Lebanon in 1738. Some of these seeds germinated and grew at Highclere and Wilton House, but probably also at nearby Sandleford and his family's own Newtown House, Hampshire.


title: Highclere Castle

text: Coincidentally, the seemingly unrelated and earlier Rev. Edward Pococke (1604–1691), another orientalist, was sometime vicar of Chieveley, and then rector of Childrey both nearby in Berkshire, was an even earlier importer of the cedar. And of his six sons, the eldest, Edward Pococke (1648–1727) was chaplain to the Earl of Pembroke, and rector of Minall or Mildenhall, Wiltshire (1692), and canon of Salisbury (1675).


title: Highclere Castle

text: I came from Berghclere this morning, and through the park of Lord Caernarvon, at Highclere. It is a fine season to look at woods. The oaks are still covered, the beeches in their best dress, the elms yet pretty green, and the beautiful ashes only beginning to turn off. This is, according to my fancy, the prettiest park that I have ever seen. A great variety of hill and dell. A good deal of water, and this, in one part, only wants the colours of American trees to make it look like a creek; for the water runs along at the foot of a steepish hill, thickly covered with trees, and the branches of the lowermost trees hang down into the water and hide the bank completely.


title: Highclere Castle

text: I like this place better than Fonthill, Blenheim, Stowe, or any other gentleman's grounds that I have seen. The house I did not care about, though it appears to be large enough to hold half a village. The trees are very good, and the woods would be handsomer if the larches and firs were burnt, for which only they are fit. The great beauty of the place is, the lofty downs, as steep, in some places, as the roof of a house, which form a sort of boundary, in the form of a part of a crescent, to about a third part of the park, and then slope off and get more distant, for about half another third part. A part of these downs is covered with trees, chiefly beech, the colour of which, at this season, forms a most beautiful contrast with that of the down itself, which is so green and so smooth! From the vale in the park, along which we rode, we looked apparently almost perpendicularly up at the downs, where the trees have extended themselves by seed more in some places than others, and thereby formed numerous salient parts of various forms, and, of course, as many and as variously formed glades. These, which are always so beautiful in forests and parks, are peculiarly beautiful in this lofty situation and with verdure so smooth as that of these chalky downs.


title: Highclere Castle

text: Our horses beat up a score or two of hares as we crossed the park; and, though we met with no gothic arches made of Scotch-fir, we saw something a great deal better; namely, about forty cows, the most beautiful that I ever saw, as to colour at least. They appear to be of the Galway-breed. They are called, in this country, Lord Caernarvon's breed. They have no horns, and their colour is a ground of white with black or red spots, these spots being from the size of a plate to that of a crown-piece; and some of them have no small spots. These cattle were lying down together in the space of about an acre of ground: they were in excellent condition, and so fine a sight of the kind I never saw.'


title: Highclere Castle

text: The house was then a square, classical mansion, but, after an abortive exterior remodelling by Thomas Hopper in Greek Revival style for the second Earls, it was remodelled and largely rebuilt for the third Earl following a design by Sir Charles Barry in 1842–49 during his construction of the Houses of Parliament. It is in the Jacobethan style and faced in Bath stone, reflecting the Victorian revival of English architecture of the late 16th century and early 17th century, when Tudor architecture was being challenged by newly arrived Renaissance architecture influences.


title: Highclere Castle

text: During the 19th century, there was a Renaissance Revival movement, of which Sir Charles Barry was an exponent, Barry described the style of Highclere as Anglo-Italian. Barry had been inspired to become an architect by the Renaissance architecture of Italy and was very proficient at working in the Renaissance-based style that became known in the 19th century as Italianate architecture. At Highclere, however, he worked in the Jacobethan style, but added to it some of the motifs of the Italianate style. This is particularly noticeable in the towers, which are slimmer and more refined than those of Mentmore Towers, the other great Jacobethan house built in the same era. Barry produced an alternative design in a more purely Italian Renaissance style, which was rejected by Lord Carnarvon. The external walls are decorated with strapwork designs typical of Northern European Renaissance architecture. The Italian Renaissance theme is more evident in the interiors. In the saloon, in an attempt to resemble a medieval English great hall, Barry's assistant Thomas Allom introduced a Gothic influence evident in the points rather than curves of the arches, and the mock-hammerbeam roof.


title: Highclere Castle

text: Although the exterior of the north, east and south sides were completed before the 3rd Earl died in 1849 and Sir Charles Barry died in 1860, the interior and the west wing (designated as servants' quarters) were far from complete. The 4th Earl turned to the architect Thomas Allom, who had worked with Barry, to supervise work on the interior of the castle, which was completed in 1878. The 1st Earl had his park laid out according to a design by Capability Brown in 1774–1777, moving the village in the process—the remains of the church of 1689 are at the north-west corner of the castle. The Lebanon Cedars are believed to be descended from seeds brought to England from Lebanon by the 17th-century seed collector Edward Pococke.


title: Highclere Castle

text: In the 1860s, the 4th Earl drafted the British North America Act of 1867 at the castle alongside the first Prime Minister of Canada John A. Macdonald, George-Étienne Cartier and Alexander Tilloch Galt, who signed the visitor book in 1866. The 4th Earl presented the Act to Parliament in February 1867 and this led to the foundation of the present-day nation of Canada later that year. After the discovery of documents between him and John A. Macdonald, showing eight weeks of nearly daily correspondence, Janice Charette, the Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, recognised the central role of the 4th Earl in the creation of Canada by planting a maple tree on the lawn on 11 January 2018.


title: Highclere Castle

text: At the beginning of World War I, a hospital for war wounded was opened at Highclere Castle, with Lady Carnarvon helping with the organisation and assisting as a nurse. The castle became home to Egyptian artefacts after the 5th Earl, an enthusiastic amateur Egyptologist, sponsored the excavation of nobles' tombs in Deir el-Bahari (Thebes) in 1907, and employed archaeologist Howard Carter in the search for the tomb of Tutankhamun. During World War II the castle provided a home for dozens of evacuee children. The estate was the location of several crashes of allied aircraft, including a B-17 Flying Fortress, parts of which are now in the possession of Highclere.


title: Highclere Castle

text: In the 21st century Lord and Lady Carnarvon undertook repairs to the roof. In 2007, they created the Egyptian Exhibition, which lies in the cellars of the castle and tells the story of the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb by the 5th Earl. By 2009, the castle was again in need of major repairs, with only the ground and first floors remaining usable. Water damage had caused stonework to crumble and ceilings to collapse; at least 50 rooms were uninhabitable. The 8th Earl and his family were living in a "modest cottage in the grounds"; he said a lack of repair by his ancestors caused the castle's long-term problems. Repairs needed for the entire estate were estimated to cost around £12 million, £1.8 million of which was urgently needed just for the castle.


title: Highclere Castle

text: The castle was used as the main filming location for the ITV/PBS drama series "Downton Abbey", which brought the castle international fame. The increased numbers of visitors to the castle have allowed for repairs on Highclere's turrets and its interior. The family attributed this increase in interest to the on-site filming of "Downton Abbey".


title: Highclere Castle

text: The family now live in Highclere Castle at various times throughout the year, but return to their cottage when the castle is open to the public.


title: Highclere Castle

text: The parkland surrounding the castle is listed Grade I on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens and is listed as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).


title: Highclere Castle

text: The park is the earliest documented estate in Hampshire, having been given in 749 to the Church of Winchester as a deer park. In 1706, under the ownership of Robert Sawyer Herbert, the park became a rococo landscape of walks. Then in 1770 it became a landscaped park designed by Capability Brown.


title: Highclere Castle

text: In 1991 Highclere Park was registered as an SSSI. The park's listing as an SSSI is due to a mixture of habitats that contain many regional uncommon plants, and its diverse range of lichen.


title: Highclere Castle

text: There are various follies on the estate. To the east of the house is the Temple of Diana, erected before 1743 with Ionic order columns from Devonshire House in Piccadilly, which had burnt in 1733, and remodelled by Barry. "Heaven's Gate" is a folly about 60 feet high on Sidown Hill, built in 1749 by Hon. Robert Sawyer Herbert (d. 1769). Other 18th-century follies that can be found on the grounds of the estate include Milford Lake House and Jackdaw's Castle, both attributed to the architect earl of Pembroke, brother of the owner, and the Etruscan Temple.


title: Highclere Castle

text: The 2nd Earl of Carnarvon was a passionate horticulturalist and was vice-president of the Royal Horticultural Society from 1829 until his death in 1833. Many hybrids and cultivars of ornamental plants were produced on the castle grounds during that time. The hybrid azalea "Rhododendron × altaclerense" was first produced on the castle grounds in 1826, with over 25 Highclere azalea cultivars later being produced. The hybrid holly "Ilex x altaclerensis" (Highclere holly) was developed here in 1835 by hybridising the Madeiran "Ilex perado" (grown in a greenhouse) with the local native "Ilex aquifolium". This hybrid and it's offspring are still used as garden plants almost 200 years later.


title: Highclere Castle

text: The castle, Egyptian exhibition and gardens are open to the public during the summer months and at other times during the rest of the year. The castle also holds special ticketed events throughout the year.


title: Highclere Castle

text: In 2007, the grounds were the venue for the Countryside Rocks concert, to raise funds for the UK rural advocacy organisation Countryside Alliance, featuring Bryan Ferry, Steve Winwood, Eric Clapton, Steve Harley and Kenney Jones.


title: Monsanto

text: The Monsanto Company () was an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Monsanto's best known product is Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, developed in the 1970s. Later the company became a major producer of genetically engineered crops. In 2018, the company ranked 199th on the Fortune 500 of the largest United States corporations by revenue.


title: Monsanto

text: Monsanto was one of four groups to introduce genes into plants in 1983, and was among the first to conduct field trials of genetically modified crops in 1987. It was one of the top 10 US chemical companies until it divested most of its chemical businesses between 1997 and 2002, through a process of mergers and spin-offs that focused the company on biotechnology. Monsanto was one of the first companies to apply the biotechnology industry business model to agriculture, using techniques developed by biotech drug companies. In this business model, companies recoup R&D expenses by exploiting biological patents.


title: Monsanto

text: Monsanto's roles in agricultural changes, biotechnology products, lobbying of government agencies, and roots as a chemical company have resulted in controversies. The company once manufactured controversial products such as the insecticide DDT, PCBs, Agent Orange, and recombinant bovine growth hormone. Its seed patenting model was criticized as biopiracy and a threat to biodiversity as invasive species.


title: Monsanto

text: In September 2016, German chemical company Bayer announced its intent to acquire Monsanto for US$66 billion in an all-cash deal. After gaining US and EU regulatory approval, the sale was completed on June 7, 2018. The name "Monsanto" was no longer used, but Monsanto's previous product brand names were maintained. In June 2020, Bayer agreed to pay numerous settlements in lawsuits involving ex-Monsanto products Roundup, PCBs and Dicamba.


title: Monsanto

text: In 1901 Monsanto was founded in St. Louis, Missouri, as a chemical company. The founder was John Francis Queeny, who at age 42 was a 30‑year veteran of the nascent pharmaceutical industry. He funded the firm with his own money and capital from a soft drink distributor. He used for the company name, the maiden name of his wife, Olga Méndez Monsanto, who was a scioness of the Sephardic Jewish Monsanto family. The company's first products were commodity food additives, such as the artificial sweetener saccharin, caffeine and vanillin.


title: Monsanto

text: Monsanto expanded to Europe in 1919 in a partnership with Graesser's Chemical Works at Cefn Mawr, Wales. The venture produced vanillin, aspirin and its raw ingredient salicylic acid, and later rubber processing chemicals. In the 1920s, Monsanto expanded into basic industrial chemicals such as sulfuric acid and PCBs. Queeny's son Edgar Monsanto Queeny took over the company in 1928. In 1926 the company founded and incorporated a town called Monsanto in Illinois (now known as Sauget). It was formed to provide minimal regulation and low taxes for Monsanto plants at a time when local jurisdictions had most of the responsibility for environmental rules. It was renamed in honor of Leo Sauget, its first village president.


title: Monsanto

text: In 1935, Monsanto bought the Swann Chemical Company in Anniston, Alabama, and thereby entered the business of producing PCBs.


title: Monsanto

text: In 1936, Monsanto acquired Thomas & Hochwalt Laboratories in Dayton, Ohio, to acquire the expertise of Charles Allen Thomas and Carroll A. Hochwalt. The acquisition became Monsanto's Central Research Department. Thomas spent the rest of his career at Monsanto, serving as President (1951–1960) and Board Chair (1960–1965). He retired in 1970. In 1943, Thomas was called to a meeting in Washington, D.C., with Leslie Groves, commander of the Manhattan Project, and James Conant, president of Harvard University and chairman of the National Defense Research Committee (NDRC). They urged Thomas to become co-director of the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos with Robert Oppenheimer, but Thomas was reluctant to leave Dayton and Monsanto. He joined the NDRC, and Monsanto's Central Research Department began to conduct related research. To that end, Monsanto operated the Dayton Project, and later Mound Laboratories, and assisted in the development of the first nuclear weapons.


title: Monsanto

text: In 1946, Monsanto developed and marketed "All" laundry detergent, which they sold to Lever Brothers in 1957. In 1947, its styrene factory was destroyed in the Texas City Disaster. In 1949, Monsanto acquired American Viscose Corporation from Courtaulds. In 1954, Monsanto partnered with German chemical giant Bayer to form Mobay and market polyurethanes in the United States.


title: Monsanto

text: Monsanto began manufacturing DDT in 1944, along with some 15 other companies. This insecticide was used to kill malaria-transmitting mosquitoes, but it was banned in the United States in 1972 due to its harmful environmental impacts.


title: Monsanto

text: In the mid‑1960s, William Standish Knowles and his team invented a way to selectively synthesize enantiomers via asymmetric hydrogenation. This was the first method for the catalytic production of pure chiral compounds. Knowles' team designed the "first industrial process to chirally synthesize an important compound"—L‑dopa, which is used to treat Parkinson's disease. In 2001, Knowles and Ryōji Noyori won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. In the mid-1960s, chemists at Monsanto developed the Monsanto process for making acetic acid, which until 2000 was the most widely used production method. In 1964, Monsanto chemists invented AstroTurf (initially ChemGrass).


title: Monsanto

text: In the 1960s and 1970s, Monsanto was a producer of Agent Orange for United States Armed Forces operations in Vietnam, and settled out of court in a lawsuit brought by veterans in 1984. In 1968, it became the first company to start mass production of (visible) light-emitting diodes (LEDs), using gallium arsenide phosphide. From 1968 to 1970, sales doubled every few months. Their products (discrete LEDs and seven-segment numeric displays) became industry standards. The primary markets then were electronic calculators, digital watches and digital clocks. Monsanto became a pioneer of optoelectronics in the 1970s.


title: Monsanto

text: Between 1968 and 1974, the company sponsored the PGA Tour event in Pensacola, Florida, which was renamed the Monsanto Open.


title: Monsanto

text: In 1974, Harvard University and Monsanto signed a 10-year research grant to support the cancer research of Judah Folkman, which became the largest such arrangement ever made; medical inventions arising from that research were the first for which Harvard allowed its faculty to submit patent application.


title: Monsanto

text: Monsanto scientists were among the first to genetically modify a plant cell, publishing their results in 1983. Five years later the company conducted the first field tests of genetically modified crops. Increasing involvement in agricultural biotechnology dates from the installment of Richard Mahoney as Monsanto's CEO in 1983. This involvement increased under the leadership of Robert Shapiro, appointed CEO in 1995, leading ultimately to the disposition of product lines unrelated to agriculture.


title: Monsanto

text: In 1985, Monsanto acquired G.D. Searle & Company, a life sciences company that focused on pharmaceuticals, agriculture and animal health. In 1993, its Searle division filed a patent application for Celebrex, which in 1998 became the first selective COX‑2 inhibitor to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Celebrex became a blockbuster drug and was often mentioned as a key reason for Pfizer's acquisition of Monsanto's pharmaceutical business in 2002.


title: Monsanto

text: In 1994, Monsanto introduced a recombinant version of bovine somatotropin, brand-named Posilac. Monsanto later sold this business to Eli Lilly and Company.


title: Monsanto

text: In 1996, Monsanto purchased Agracetus, the biotechnology company that had generated the first transgenic cotton, soybeans, peanuts and other crops, and from which Monsanto had been licensing technology since 1991.


title: Monsanto

text: In 1997, Monsanto divested Solutia, a company created to carry off the responsibility for Monsanto's PCB business and associated liabilities, along with some related organic chemical production.


title: Monsanto

text: Monsanto first entered the maize seed business when it purchased 40% of Dekalb in 1996; it purchased the remainder of the corporation in 1998. In 1997, the company first published an annual report citing Monsanto's Law, a biotechnological take on Moore's Law, indicating its future directions and exponential growth in the use of biotechnology. In the same year, Californian GMO company Calgene was acquired. In 1998, Monsanto purchased Cargill's international seed business, which gave it access to sales and distribution facilities in 51 countries. In 2005, it finalized the purchase of Seminis Inc, a leading global vegetable and fruit seed company, for $1.4 billion. This made it the world's largest conventional seed company.


title: Monsanto

text: In 1999, Monsanto sold off NutraSweet Co. In December of the same year, Monsanto agreed to merge with Pharmacia & Upjohn, in a deal valuing the transaction at $27 billion. The agricultural division became a wholly owned subsidiary of the "new" Pharmacia; Monsanto's medical research division, which included products such as Celebrex.


title: Monsanto

text: In 2000: Pharmacia spun off its agro-biotech subsidiary into a new company, the "new Monsanto", focused on four key agricultural crops—soybeans, maize, wheat and cotton. Monsanto agreed to indemnify Pharmacia against potential liabilities from judgments against Solutia. As a result, the new Monsanto continued to be a party to numerous lawsuits over the prior Monsanto. Pharmacia was bought by Pfizer in 2003.)


title: Monsanto

text: In 2005, Monsanto acquired Emergent Genetics and its Stoneville and NexGen cotton brands. Emergent was the third-largest U.S. cotton seed company, with about 12% of the U.S. market. Monsanto's goal was to obtain "a strategic cotton germplasm and traits platform".


title: Monsanto

text: Also in 2005, Monsanto purchased Seminis, the California-based world leader in vegetable seed production, for $1.4 billion. Seminis developed new vegetable varieties using advanced cross-pollination methods. Monsanto indicated that Seminis would continue with non-GM development, while not ruling out GM in the longer term.


title: Monsanto

text: In June 2007, Monsanto purchased Delta and Pine Land Company, a major cotton seed breeder, for $1.5 billion. As a condition for approval from the Department of Justice, Monsanto was obligated to divest its Stoneville cotton business, which it sold to Bayer, and to divest its NexGen cotton business, which it sold to Americot. Monsanto also exited the pig-breeding business by selling Monsanto Choice Genetics to Newsham Genetics LC in November, divesting itself of "any and all swine-related patents, patent applications, and all other intellectual property". In 2007, Monsanto and BASF announced a long-term agreement to cooperate in the research, development, and marketing of new plant biotechnology products.


title: Monsanto

text: In 2008, Monsanto purchased Dutch seed company De Ruiter Seeds for €546 million, and sold its POSILAC bovine somatotropin brand and related business to Elanco Animal Health, a division of Eli Lilly & Co, in August for $300 million plus "additional contingent consideration".


title: Monsanto

text: In 2012, Monsanto purchased for $210 million Precision Planting Inc., a company that produced computer hardware and software designed to enable farmers to increase yield and productivity through more precise planting.


title: Monsanto

text: Monsanto purchased San Francisco-based Climate Corp for $930 million in 2013. Climate Corp makes local weather forecasts for farmers based on data modelling and historical data; if the forecasts were wrong, the farmer was compensated.


title: Monsanto

text: In May 2013, a worldwide protest against Monsanto corporation, called March Against Monsanto, was held in over 400 cities. A second protest took place in May 2014.


title: Monsanto

text: Monsanto tried to acquire Swiss agro-biotechnology rival Syngenta for US$46.5 billion in 2015, but failed. In that year Monsanto was the world's biggest supplier of seeds, controlling 26% of the global seed market (Du Pont was second with 21%). Monsanto was the only manufacturer of white phosphorus for military use in the US.


title: Monsanto

text: In September 2016, Monsanto agreed to be acquired by Bayer for US$66 billion. In an effort to receive regulatory clearance for the deal, Bayer announced the sale of significant portions of its current agriculture businesses, including its seed and herbicide businesses, to BASF.


title: Monsanto

text: The deal was approved by the European Union on March 21, 2018, and approved in the United States on May 29, 2018. The sale closed on June 7, 2018; Bayer announced its intent to discontinue the Monsanto name, with the combined company operating solely under the Bayer brand.


title: Monsanto

text: Under the terms of merger, Bayer promised to maintain Monsanto's more than 9,000 U.S. jobs and add 3,000 new U.S. high-tech positions.


title: Monsanto

text: The prospective merger parties said at the time the combined agriculture business planned to spend $16 billion on research and development over the next six years and at least $8 billion on research and development in United States .


title: Monsanto

text: Bayer would also establish their new global Seeds & Traits and North American commercial headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri.


title: Monsanto

text: Following its 1970 introduction, Monsanto's last commercially relevant United States patent on the herbicide glyphosate (brand name RoundUp) expired in 2000. Glyphosate has since been marketed by many agrochemical companies, in various solution strengths and with various adjuvants, under dozens of tradenames. As of 2009, glyphosate represented about 10% of Monsanto's revenue. Roundup-related products (which include genetically modified seeds) represented about half of Monsanto's gross margin.


title: Monsanto

text: Many of Monsanto's agricultural seed products are genetically modified, such as for resistance to herbicides, including glyphosate and dicamba. Monsanto calls glyphosate-tolerant seeds "Roundup Ready". Monsanto's introduction of this system (planting a glyphosate-resistant seed and then applying glyphosate once plants emerged) allowed farmers to increase yield by planting rows closer together. Without it, farmers had to plant rows far enough apart to allow the control of post-emergent weeds with mechanical tillage. Farmers widely adopted the technology—for example over 80% of maize (Mon 832), soybean (MON-Ø4Ø32-6), cotton, sugar beet and canola planted in the United States are glyphosate-tolerant. Monsanto developed a Roundup Ready genetically modified wheat (MON 71800) but ended development in 2004 due to concerns from wheat exporters about the rejection of genetically modified (GM) wheat by foreign markets.


title: Monsanto

text: Two patents were critical to Monsanto's GM soybean business; one expired in 2011 and the other in 2014. The second expiration meant that glyphosate resistant soybeans became "generic". The first harvest of generic glyphosate-tolerant soybeans came in 2015. Monsanto broadly licensed the patent to other seed companies that include glyphosate resistance trait in their seed products. About 150 companies have licensed the technology, including competitors Syngenta and DuPont Pioneer.


title: Monsanto

text: Monsanto invented and sells genetically modified seeds that make a crystalline insecticidal protein from "Bacillus thuringiensis", known as Bt. In 1995 Monsanto's potato plants producing Bt toxin were approved by the Environmental Protection Agency, following approval by the FDA, making it the first pesticide-producing crop to be approved in the United States. Monsanto subsequently developed Bt maize (MON 802, MON 809, MON 863, MON 810), Bt soybean and Bt cotton.


title: Monsanto

text: Monsanto produces seed that has multiple genetic modifications, also known as "stacked traits"—for instance, cotton that make one or more Bt proteins and is resistant to glyphosate. One of these, created in collaboration with Dow Chemical Company, is called SmartStax. In 2011 Monsanto launched the Genuity brand for its stacked-trait products.


title: Monsanto

text: As of 2012, the agricultural seed lineup included "Roundup Ready" alfalfa, canola and sugarbeet; Bt and/or "Roundup Ready" cotton; sorghum hybrids; soybeans with various oil profiles, most with the "Roundup Ready" trait; and a wide range of wheat products, many of which incorporate the nontransgenic "clearfield" imazamox-tolerant trait from BASF.


title: Monsanto

text: In 2013 Monsanto launched the first transgenic drought tolerance trait in a line of corn hybrids branded DroughtGard. The MON 87460 trait is provided by the insertion of the cspB gene from the soil microbe "Bacillus subtilis"; it was approved by the USDA in 2011 and by China in 2013.


title: Monsanto

text: The "Xtend Crop System" includes seed genetically modified to be resistant to both glyphosate and dicamba, and a herbicide product including those two active ingredients. In December 2014, the system was approved for use in the US. In February 2016, China approved the Roundup Ready 2 Xtend system. The lack of European Union approval led many American traders to reject the use of Xtend soybeans over concerns that the new seeds would become mixed with EU-approved seeds, leading Europe to reject American soybean exports.


title: Monsanto

text: In 2009, Monsanto scientists discovered insects that had developed resistance to the Bt Cotton planted in Gujarat. Monsanto communicated this to the Indian government and its customers, stating that "Resistance is natural and expected, so measures to delay resistance are important. Among the factors that may have contributed to pink bollworm resistance to the Cry1Ac protein in Bollgard I in Gujarat are limited refuge planting and early use of unapproved Bt cotton seed, planted prior to GEAC approval of Bollgard I cotton, which may have had lower protein expression levels." The company advised farmers to switch to its second generation of Bt cotton – Bolgard II – which had two resistance genes instead of one, the widely recognised best practice to forestall, prevent, and cope with any kind of pesticide resistance. However, this advice was criticized: "an internal analysis of the statement of the Ministry of Environment and Forests says it 'appears that this could be a business strategy to phase out single gene events [that is, the first-generation Bollgard I product] and promote double genes [the second generation Bollgard II] which would fetch higher price.


title: Monsanto

text: Monsanto's GM cotton seed was the subject of NGO agitation because of its higher cost. Indian farmers crossed GM varieties with local varieties, using plant breeding, violating their agreements with Monsanto. In 2009, high prices of Bt Cotton were blamed for forcing farmers of Jhabua district into debt when the crops died due to lack of rain.


title: Monsanto

text: In 2012 Monsanto was the world's largest supplier of non-GE vegetable seeds by value, with sales of $800M. 95% of the research and development for vegetable seed is in conventional breeding. The company concentrates on improving flavor. According to their website they sell "4,000 distinct seed varieties representing more than 20 species". Broccoli, with the brand name "Beneforté", with increased amounts of glucoraphanin was introduced in 2010 following development by its Seminis subsidiary.


title: Monsanto

text: Until it ended production in 1977, Monsanto was the source of 99% of the polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) used by U.S. industry. They were sold under brand names including Aroclor and Santotherm; the name Santotherm is still used for non-chlorinated products. PCBs are a persistent organic pollutant, and cause cancer in both animals and humans, among other health effects. PCBs were initially welcomed due to the electrical industry's need for durable, safer (than flammable mineral oil) cooling and insulating fluid for industrial transformers and capacitors. PCBs were also commonly used as stabilizing additives in the manufacture of flexible PVC coatings for electrical wiring and in electronic components to enhance PVC heat and fire resistance. As transformer leaks occurred and toxicity problems arose near factories, their durability and toxicity became recognized as serious problems. PCB production was banned by the U.S. Congress in 1979 and by the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants in 2001.


title: Monsanto

text: Monsanto, Dow Chemical, and eight other chemical companies made Agent Orange for the U.S. Department of Defense. It was given its name from the color of the orange-striped barrels in which it was shipped, and was by far the most widely used of the so-called "Rainbow Herbicides".


title: Monsanto

text: Monsanto developed and sold recombinant bovine somatotropin (also known as rBST and rBGH), a synthetic hormone that increases milk production by 11–16% when injected into cows. In October 2008, Monsanto sold this business to Eli Lilly for $300 million plus additional considerations.


title: Monsanto

text: In some markets, milk from cows that are not treated with rBST is sold with labels indicating that it is rBST-free: this milk has proved popular with consumers. In reaction to this, in early 2008 a pro-rBST advocacy group called "American Farmers for the Advancement and Conservation of Technology" (AFACT), made up of dairies and originally affiliated with Monsanto, formed and began lobbying to ban such labels. AFACT stated that "absence" labels can be misleading and imply that milk from cows treated with rBST is inferior.


title: Monsanto

text: Genetic use restriction technology, colloquially known as "terminator technology", produces plants with sterile seeds. This trait would prevent the spread of those seeds into the wild. It also would prevent farmers from planting seeds they harvest, requiring them to purchase seed for every planting, allowing the company to enforce its licensing terms via technology. Farmers have been buying hybrid seeds for generations, instead of replanting their harvest, because second-generation hybrid seeds are inferior. Nevertheless, most seed companies contract only with farmers who agree not to plant harvested seeds.


title: Monsanto

text: Terminator technology has been developed by governmental labs, university researchers and companies. The technology has not been used commercially. Rumors that Monsanto and other companies intended to introduce terminator technology caused protests, for example in India.


title: Monsanto

text: In 1999, Monsanto pledged not to commercialize terminator technology. The Delta & Pine Land Company of Mississippi intended to commercialize the technology, but D&PL was acquired by Monsanto in 2007.


title: Monsanto

text: Monsanto "Terminator seeds" were never commercialized nor used in any farmer's field anywhere in the world. The patent expired in 2015.


title: Monsanto

text: Monsanto developed several strains of genetically modified wheat, including glyphosate-resistant strains, in the 1990s. Field tests were done in the United States between 1998 and 2005. As of 2017, no genetically modified wheat had been released for commercial use.


title: Monsanto

text: Monsanto engaged in high-profile lawsuits, as both plaintiff and defendant. It defended lawsuits mostly over its products' health and environmental effects. Monsanto used the courts to enforce its patents, particularly in agricultural biotechnology, an approach similar to that of other companies in the field, such as Dupont Pioneer and Syngenta. Monsanto also became one of the most vilified large corporations in the world, over a range of issues involving its industrial and agricultural chemical products, and GM seed. In April 2018, just prior to Bayer's acquisition, Bayer indicated that improving Monsanto's reputation represented a major challenge. That June, Bayer announced it would drop the Monsanto name as part of a campaign to regain consumer trust.


title: Monsanto

text: Argentina approved "Roundup Ready" soy in 1996. Between 1996 and 2008 soy production grew from 14 million acres to 42 million acres. The growth was driven by Argentine investors' interest in export markets. The consolidation led to a decrease in production of many staples such as milk, rice, maize, potatoes and lentils. As of 2004, about 150,000 small farmers had left the countryside; as of 2009, 50% in the Chaco region.


title: Monsanto

text: "The Guardian" reported that a Monsanto representative had said, "any problems with GM soya were to do with use of the crop as a monoculture, not because it was GM. If you grow any crop to the exclusion of any other you are bound to get problems."


title: Monsanto

text: In 2005 and 2006, Monsanto attempted to enforce its patents on soymeal originating in Argentina and shipped to Spain by having Spanish customs officials seize the soymeal shipments. The seizures were part of a larger attempt by Monsanto to put pressure on the Argentinian government to enforce Monsanto's seed patents.


title: Monsanto

text: In 2013 environmentalist groups objected to a Monsanto corn seed conditioning facility in Malvinas Argentinas, Córdoba. Neighbours objected to the risk of environmental impact. Court rulings supported the project, but environmentalist groups organised demonstrations and opened an online petition for the subject to be decided in a popular referendum. The court rulings stipulated that while construction could continue, the facility could not begin operating until the environmental impact report required by law had been duly presented.


title: Monsanto

text: In 2016 Monsanto reached an agreement with Argentina's government on soybean seed royalty payments. Monsanto agreed to give the Argentine Seed Institute (Inase) oversight over crops grown from Monsanto's Intacta genetically modified soybean seeds. Before the agreement, Argentine farmers generally avoided royalties by using seeds from previous harvests or purchased from non-registered suppliers. Inase agreed to delegate testing to grain exchanges. About 6 million sample tests were to be conducted annually. Seeds that appear to be GMOs may be tested again using a polymerase chain reaction test.


title: Monsanto

text: Brazil is the second largest producer of GMO soy. In 2003 GM soy was found in fields planted in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. This was a controversial decision, and in response, the Landless Workers' Movement protested by invading and occupying several Monsanto farm plots used for research, training and seed-processing. In 2005 Brazil passed a law creating a regulatory pathway for GM crops.


title: Monsanto

text: Monsanto was criticized by Chinese economist Larry Lang for controlling the Chinese soybean market, and for trying to do the same to Chinese corn and cotton.


title: Monsanto

text: In the late 1990s and early 2000s, public attention was drawn to suicides by indebted farmers following crop failures. For example, in the early 2000s, farmers in Andhra Pradesh (AP) were in economic crisis due to high-interest rates and crop failures, leading to widespread unrest and farmer suicides. Monsanto was one focus of protests with respect to the price and yields of Bt seed. In 2005, the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee, the Indian regulatory authority, released a study on field tests of certain Bt cotton strains in AP and ruled that Monsanto could not market those strains in AP because of poor yields. At about the same time, the state agriculture minister barred the company from selling Bt cotton seed, because Monsanto refused a request by the state government to provide pay about Rs 4.5 crore (about one million US$) to indebted farmers in some districts, and because the government blamed Monsanto's seeds for crop failures. The order was later lifted.


title: Monsanto

text: In 2006, AP tried to convince Monsanto to reduce the price of Bt seeds. Unsatisfied, the state filed several cases against Monsanto and its Mumbai-based licensee, Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds. Research by International Food Policy Research Institute found no evidence supporting an increased suicide rate following the introduction of Bt cotton and that Bt cotton. The report stated that farmer suicides predated commercial introduction in 2002 (and unofficial introduction in 2001) and that such suicides had made up a fairly constant portion of the overall national suicide rate since 1997. The report concluded that while Bt cotton may have been a factor in specific suicides, the contribution was likely marginal compared to socio-economic factors. As of 2009, Bt cotton was planted in 87% of Indian cotton-growing land.


title: Monsanto

text: Critics including Vandana Shiva said that the crop failures could "often be traced to" Monsanto's Bt cotton, that the seeds increased farmer indebtedness and argued that Monsanto misrepresented the profitability of their Bt Cotton, causing losses leading to debt. In 2009, Shiva wrote that Indian farmers who had previously spent as little as ₹7 (rupees) per kilogram were now paying up to ₹17,000 per kilo per year for Bt cotton. In 2012 the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the Central Cotton Research Institute (CCRI) stated that for the first time farmer suicides could be linked to a decline in the performance of Bt cotton, and advised, "cotton farmers are in a deep crisis since shifting to Bt cotton. The spate of farmer suicides in 2011–12 has been particularly severe among Bt cotton farmers."


title: Monsanto

text: In 2004, in response to an order from the Bombay High Court the Tata Institute produced a report on farmer suicides in Maharashtra in 2005. The survey cited "government apathy, the absence of a safety net for farmers, and lack of access to information related to agriculture as the chief causes for the desperate condition of farmers in the state."


title: Monsanto

text: Various studies identified the important factors as insufficient or risky credit systems, the difficulty of farming semi-arid regions, poor agricultural income, absence of alternative income opportunities, a downturn in the urban economy which forced non-farmers into farming and the absence of suitable counseling services. ICAR and CCRI stated that the cost of cotton cultivation had jumped as a consequence of rising pesticide costs, while total Bt cotton production in the five years from 2007 to 2012 had declined.


title: Monsanto

text: Brofiscin Quarry was used as a waste site from about 1965 to 1972 and accepted waste from BP, Veolia and Monsanto. A 2005 report by Environment Agency Wales (EAW) found that the quarry contained up to 75 toxic substances, including heavy metals, Agent Orange and PCBs.


title: Monsanto

text: In February 2011, Monsanto agreed to help with the costs of remediation, but did not accept responsibility for the pollution. In 2011, EAW and the Rhondda Cynon Taf council announced that they had decided to place an engineered cap over the waste mass, and stated that the cost would be £1.5 million; previous estimates had been as high as £100 million.


title: Monsanto

text: In the late 1960s, the Monsanto plant in Sauget, Illinois, was the nation's largest producer of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) compounds, which remained in the water along Dead Creek there. An EPA official referred to Sauget as "one of the most polluted communities in the region" and "a soup of different chemicals".


title: Monsanto

text: In Anniston, Alabama, plaintiffs in a 2002 lawsuit provided documentation showing that the local Monsanto factory knowingly discharged both mercury and PCB-laden waste into local creeks for over 40 years. In 1969 Monsanto dumped 45 tons of PCBs into Snow Creek, a feeder for Choccolocco Creek, which supplies much of the area's drinking water, and buried millions of pounds of PCB in open-pit landfills located on hillsides above the plant and surrounding neighborhoods. In August 2003, Solutia and Monsanto agreed to pay plaintiffs $700 million to settle claims by over 20,000 Anniston residents.


title: Monsanto

text: In June 2020, Bayer proposed paying $650 million to settle local PCB lawsuits, and $170 million to the attorneys-general of New Mexico, Washington and the District of Columbia. Monsanto was acknowledged at the time of the settlement to have ceased making PCBs in 1977, though State Impact of Pennsylvania reported that this did not stop PCBs from contaminating people many years later. State Impact of Pennsylvania stated "In 1979, the EPA banned the use of PCBs, but they still exist in some products produced before 1979. They persist in the environment because they bind to sediments and soils. High exposure to PCBs can cause birth defects, developmental delays, and liver changes." On November 25, 2020, however U.S. District Judge Fernando M. Olguin rejected the proposed $650 million settlement from Bayer and allowed Monsanto-related lawsuits involving PCB to proceed.


title: Monsanto

text: As of November 2013, Monsanto was associated with nine "active" Superfund sites and 32 "archived" sites in the US, in the EPA's Superfund database. Monsanto was sued and settled multiple times for damaging the health of its employees or residents near its Superfund sites through pollution and poisoning.


title: Monsanto

text: In 2013 a Monsanto-developed transgenic cultivar of glyphosate-resistant wheat was discovered on a farm in Oregon, growing as a weed or "volunteer plant". The final Oregon field test had occurred in 2001. As of May 2013, the GMO seed source was unknown. Volunteer wheat from a former test field two miles away was tested and was not found to be glyphosate-tolerant. Monsanto faced penalties up to $1 million over potential violations of the Plant Protection Act. The discovery threatened world-leading US wheat exports, which totaled $8.1 billion in 2012. This wheat variety was rarely exported to Europe and was more likely destined for Asia. Monsanto said it had destroyed all the material it held after completing trials in 2004 and it was "mystified" by its appearance. On June 14, 2013, the USDA announced: "As of today, USDA has neither found nor been informed of anything that would indicate that this incident amounts to more than a single isolated incident in a single field on a single farm. All information collected so far shows no indication of the presence of GE wheat in commerce." As of August 30, 2013, while the source of the GM wheat remained unknown, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan had all resumed placing orders.


title: Monsanto

text: Monsanto has faced controversy in the United States over claims that its herbicide products might be carcinogens. There is limited evidence that human cancer risk might increase as a result of occupational exposure to large amounts of glyphosate, as in agricultural work, but no good evidence of such a risk from home use, such as in domestic gardening. The consensus among national pesticide regulatory agencies and scientific organizations is that labeled uses of glyphosate have demonstrated no evidence of human carcinogenicity. Organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization, European Commission, Canadian Pest Management Regulatory Agency, and the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment have concluded that there is no evidence that glyphosate poses a carcinogenic or genotoxic risk to humans. However, one international scientific organization, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), affiliated with the WHO, has made claims of carcinogenicity in research reviews; in 2015 the IARC declared glyphosate "probably carcinogenic".


title: Monsanto

text: As of October 30, 2019, there were 42,700 plaintiffs who said that glyphosate herbicides caused their cancer after the IARC report in 2015 linking glyphosate to cancer in humans. Monsanto denies that Roundup is carcinogenic.


title: Monsanto

text: In March 2017, 40 plaintiffs filed a lawsuit at the Alameda County Superior Court, a branch of the California Superior Court, asking for damages caused by the company's glyphosate-based weed-killers, including Roundup, and demanding a jury trial. On August 10, 2018, Monsanto lost the first decided case. Dewayne Johnson, who has non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, was initially awarded $289 million in damages after a jury in San Francisco said that Monsanto had failed to adequately warn consumers of cancer risks posed by the herbicide. Pending appeal, the award was later reduced to $78.5 million. In November 2018, Monsanto appealed the judgement, asking an appellate court to consider a motion for a new trial. A verdict on the appeal was delivered in June 2020 upholding the verdict but further reducing the award to $21.5 million.


title: Monsanto

text: On March 27, 2019, Monsanto was found liable in a federal court for Edwin Hardeman's non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and ordered to pay $80 million in damages. A spokesperson for Bayer, by this time the parent company of Monsanto, said the company would appeal the verdict.


title: Monsanto

text: On May 13, 2019, a jury in California ordered Bayer to pay $2 billion in damages after finding that the company had failed to adequately inform consumers of the possible carcinogenicity of Roundup. On July 26, 2019, an Alameda County judge cut the settlement to $86.7 million, stating that the judgement by the jury exceeded legal precedent.


title: Monsanto

text: In June 2020, Monsanto acquisitor Bayer agreed to settle over a hundred thousand Roundup cancer lawsuits, agreeing to pay $8.8 to $9.6 billion to settle those claims, and $1.5 billion for any future claims. The settlement does not include three cases that have already gone to jury trials and are being appealed.


title: Monsanto

text: Following a lawsuit by a peach farmer alleging that Dicamba used as a weed killer drifted in the wind from adjacent crops to destroy his peach orchards, a Missouri trial jury found in February 2020 that Monsanto and codefendant BASF were negligent in design of Dicamba and failed to warn farmers about the product, awarding $15 million for losses and $250 million in punitive damages. On February 14, 2020, the jury involved in a Missouri lawsuit involving tree damage caused by dicamba drift ruled against Bayer and its co-defendant BASF and found in favor of Bader Farms owner Bill Bader. In June 2020, Bayer agreed to a settlement of up to $400 million for all 2015–2020 crop year dicamba claims, not including the $250 million judgement which was issued to Bader. On November 25, 2020, U.S. District Judge Stephen Limbaugh Jr. reduced the punitive damage amount in the Bader Farms case to $60 million.


title: Monsanto

text: From 2009 to 2011, Monsanto improperly accounted for incentive rebates. The actions inflated Monsanto's reported profit by $31 million over the two years. Monsanto paid $80 million in penalties pursuant to a subsequent settlement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Monsanto materially misstated its consolidated earnings in response to losing market share of Roundup to generic producers. Monsanto overhauled its internal controls. Two of their top CPAs were suspended and Monsanto was required to hire, at their expense, an independent ethics/compliance consultant for two years.


title: Monsanto

text: A review of glyphosate's carcinogenic potential by four independent expert panels, with a comparison to the IARC assessment, was published in September 2016. Using emails released in August 2017 by plaintiffs' lawyers who are suing Monsanto, "Bloomberg Business Week" reported that "Monsanto scientists were heavily involved in organizing, reviewing, and editing drafts submitted by the outside experts." A Monsanto spokesperson responded that Monsanto had provided only non-substantive cosmetic copyediting.


title: Monsanto

text: In 2017, "The New York Times" reported that a 2015 article attributed to researcher and columnist Henry I. Miller had been drafted by Monsanto. According to the report, Monsanto asked Miller to write an article rebutting the findings of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, and he indicated willingness to do it if he "could start from a high-quality draft". Forbes later removed Miller's blog from Forbes.com and ended their relationship.


title: Monsanto

text: Monsanto regularly lobbied the US government with expenses reaching $8.8 million in 2008 and $6.3 million in 2011. $2 million was spent on matters concerning "Foreign Agriculture Biotechnology Laws, Regulations, and Trade". Some US diplomats in Europe at other times worked directly for Monsanto.


title: Monsanto

text: California's 2012 Proposition 37 would have mandated the disclosure of genetically modified crops used in the production of California food products. Monsanto spent $8.1 million opposing passage, making it the largest contributor against the initiative. The proposition was rejected by a 53.7% majority. Labeling is not required in the US.


title: Monsanto

text: In 2009 Michael R. Taylor, food safety expert and former Monsanto VP for Public Policy, became a senior advisor to the FDA Commissioner.


title: Monsanto

text: Monsanto is a member of the Washington D.C based Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), the world's largest biotechnology trade association, which provides "advocacy, business development, and communications services." Between 2010 and 2011 BIO spent a total of $16.43 million on lobbying.


title: Monsanto

text: The Monsanto Company Citizenship Fund aka Monsanto Citizenship Fund is a political action committee that donated over $10 million to various candidates from 2003 to 2013.


title: Monsanto

text: As of October 2013, Monsanto and DuPont Co. continued backing an anti-labeling campaign, spending roughly $18 million. The state of Washington, along with 26 other states, made proposals in November to require GMO labeling.


title: Monsanto

text: In the US regulatory environment, many individuals move back and forth between positions in the public and private sectors, including at Monsanto. Critics argued that the connections between the company and the government allowed Monsanto to obtain favorable regulations at the expense of consumer safety. Supporters of the practice point to the benefits of competent and experienced individuals in both sectors and to the importance of appropriately managing potential conflicts of interest. The list of such people includes:


title: Monsanto

text: During the late 1990s, Monsanto lobbied to raise permitted glyphosate levels in soybeans and was successful in convincing Codex Alimentarius and both the UK and US governments to lift levels 200 times to 20 milligrams per kilogram of soya. When asked how negotiations with Monsanto were conducted, Lord Donoughue, then the Labour Party Agriculture minister in the House of Lords, stated that all information relating to the matter would be "kept secret". During the 24 months prior to the 1997 British election Monsanto representatives had 22 meetings at the departments of Agriculture and the Environment. Stanley Greenberg, an election advisor to Tony Blair, later worked as a Monsanto consultant. Former Labour spokesperson David Hill, became Monsanto's media adviser at the lobbying firm Bell Pottinger. The Labour government was challenged in Parliament about "trips, facilities, gifts and other offerings of financial value provided by Monsanto to civil servants", but only acknowledged that Department of Trade and Industry had two working lunches with Monsanto. Peter Luff, then a Conservative Party MP and Chairman of the Agriculture Select Committee, received up to £10,000 a year from Bell Pottinger on behalf of Monsanto.


title: Monsanto

text: In January 2011, WikiLeaks documents suggested that US diplomats in Europe responded to a request for help from the Spanish government. One report stated, "In addition, the cables show US diplomats working directly for GM companies such as Monsanto. 'In response to recent urgent requests by [Spanish rural affairs ministry] state secretary Josep Puxeu and Monsanto, post requests renewed US government support of Spain's science-based agricultural biotechnology position through high-level US government intervention.'" The leaked documents showed that in 2009, when the Spanish government's policy approving MON810 was under pressure from EU interests, Monsanto's Director for Biotechnology for Spain and Portugal requested that the US government support Spain on the matter. The leaks indicated that Spain and the US had worked closely together to "persuade the EU not to strengthen biotechnology laws". Spain was viewed as a key GMO supporter and a leading indicator of support across the continent. The leaks also revealed that in response to an attempt by France to ban MON810 in late 2007, then-US ambassador to France, Craig Roberts Stapleton, asked Washington to "calibrate a targeted retaliation list that [would cause] some pain across the EU", targeting countries that did not support the use of GM crops. This activity transpired after the US, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, India, Mexico and New Zealand had brought an action against Europe via the World Trade Organization with respect to the EU's banning of GMOs; in 2006, the WTO had ruled against the EU.


title: Monsanto

text: Monsanto was a member of EuropaBio, the leading biotechnology trade group in Europe. One of EuropaBio's initiatives is "Transforming Europe's position on GM food". It found "an urgent need to reshape the terms of the debate about GM in Europe". EuropaBio proposed the recruitment of high-profile "ambassadors" to lobby EU officials.


title: Monsanto

text: In September 2017 Monsanto lobbyists were banned from the European parliament after the Monsanto refused to attend a parliamentary hearing into allegations of regulatory interference.


title: Monsanto

text: After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Monsanto donated $255,000 for disaster relief and 60,000 seed sacks (475 tons) of hybrid (non-GM) corn and vegetable seeds worth $4 million. However, a Catholic Relief Services (CRS) rapid assessment of seed supply and demand for the five most common food security crops found that the Haitians had enough seed and recommended that imported seeds be introduced only on a small scale. Emmanuel Prophete, head of Haiti's Ministry of Agriculture's Service National Semencier (SNS), stated that SNS was not opposed to the hybrid maize seeds because they at least double yields. Louise Sperling, Principal Researcher at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) told HGW that she was not opposed to hybrids, but noted that most hybrids required extra water and better soils and that most of Haiti was not appropriate for hybrids.


title: Monsanto

text: Activists objected that some of the seeds were coated with the fungicides Maxim or thiram. In the United States, pesticides containing thiram are banned in home garden products because most home gardeners do not have adequate protection. Activists wrote that the coated seeds were handled in a dangerous manner by the recipients.


title: Monsanto

text: The donated seeds were sold at a reduced price in local markets. However, farmers feared that they were being given seeds that would "threaten local varieties" and an estimated 8,000–12,000 farmers attended a protest of the donation on June 4, 2010, organized by a Haitian farmers' association, the Peasant Movement of Papay, where a small pile of seeds was symbolically burned.


title: Monsanto

text: Monsanto has engaged in various public relations campaigns to improve its image and public perception of some of its products. These include developing a relationship with scientist Richard Doll with respect to Agent Orange. Other campaigns include the joint funding with other biotech companies for the website GMO Answers.


title: Monsanto

text: Monsanto was a major funder of science research at Washington University in St. Louis for many years. This research was highlighted by the Washington University/Monsanto Biomedical Research Agreement, which brought more than $100 million of research funding to the university. Washington University built the Monsanto Laboratory of the Life Sciences in 1965. In 2015, Monsanto gave Washington University's Institute for School Partnership a $1.94 million grant to help better teach students in STEM fields.


title: Monsanto

text: In 2009 Monsanto was chosen as "Forbes" magazine's company of the year. In 2010 Swiss research firm Covalence rated Monsanto least ethical of 581 multinational corporations based on their EthicalQuote reputation tracking index which "aggregates thousands of positive and negative news items published by the media, companies, and stakeholders". without attempt to validate sources. The journal "Science" ranked Monsanto in its Top 20 Employers list between 2011 and 2014. In 2012, it described the company as "innovative leader in the industry", "makes changes needed" and "does important quality research". Monsanto executive Robert Fraley won the World Food Prize for "breakthrough achievements in founding, developing, and applying modern agricultural biotechnology".


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: The Volkswagen Golf (Mk7) is a small family car (C-segment) produced by German automobile manufacturer Volkswagen, as the seventh generation of the Golf and the successor to the Golf Mk6. It was introduced in Berlin on 4 September 2012, before a public launch at the 2012 Paris Motor Show. Sales in Europe began with the model year of 2013, at the end of 2012.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: Marketed in three-door and five-door hatchback, van, and estate forms, the Golf Mk7 shares the MQB platform with the third-generation Audi A3, SEAT León and Škoda Octavia.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: In November 2016, Volkswagen presented a facelift of the Golf Mk7. It was replaced in December 2019 by the Golf Mk8, which is built on the MQB Evo platform. However, production of e-Golf and Golf Variant ended in the following year, precisely in mid-2020 for Golf Variant.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: Compared with the previous generation, the Golf Mk7 has a roomier cabin with greater shoulder room for the front and rear passengers, more rear legroom, and more boot space. It is wider than the Mk6, with a longer wheelbase.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: Engine options at launch include 1.2 and 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol engines, with and respectively, and 1.6 and 2.0-litre diesel engines, with and respectively. The 1.6 TDI BlueMotion Concept has a theoretical combined fuel consumption of and anticipated 85 g/km emissions.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: Available body styles are three and five door hatchbacks (including high-performance Golf GTI and Golf R models), and a five-door estate (known as the SportWagen in the United States, first advertised in May 2015). Sales of the three-door hatchback were not as strong as previous generations, and it was dropped with the launch of the eighth generation model in late 2019.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: A van version based on the three-door Golf was only sold in Ireland and for commercial customers and was cancelled as corporations opted for the bigger Volkswagen Caddy.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: At launch in the US market, Volkswagen also offered the Golf Sport model. About 650 of these SE four-door models were built, equipped with the six-speed automatic transmission. Offered in either Pure White or Platinum Gray, the Sport model is visually enhanced with a body kit that includes a front lip spoiler, side skirts, a rear valence, a larger rear spoiler, and chrome exhaust tips.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: In Brazil, the Golf Mk7 went on sale in September 2013, only in the High-line and GTI trims, along with the Comfortline trim, which was made available from March 2014. All models were imported from Germany until 2015, when local assembly commenced.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: At its introduction in 2013, it won the Car of the Year Japan Award, the first time it was awarded to a European product.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: The Golf in its most basic Latin American configuration with 7 airbags received 5 stars for adult occupants and 5 stars for toddlers from Latin NCAP in 2014.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: The Golf in its most basic Latin American configuration with 7 airbags received 5 stars for adult occupants, 5 stars for toddlers, and "Advanced Award" from Latin NCAP in 2017 (one level above 2010-2015).


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: The estate/station wagon of the Golf was revealed at Geneva Motor Show in March 2013. It is marketed as the Golf Variant in Germany and Golf SportWagen in the United States and Canada, replacing the Jetta SportWagen nameplate previously used in the US.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: The Golf Estate's loadspace volume has been expanded from the 505 litres of its predecessor to 605 litres (loaded up to the back seat backrest) versus the 380 litres of the Golf hatchback. Loaded up to the front seat backrests and under the roof, the new Golf Estate offers a cargo volume of 1,620 litres (versus the 1,495 litres of the Golf Estate Mk6). The rear seat backrests can be folded remotely via a release in the boot.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: Four petrol engines and three diesel engines are available, ranging from to in the petrol and to for the diesel engines.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: For the first time, the Golf Estate will also be available as a "full" BlueMotion model (with other modifications, including revised aerodynamics). This model uses a 1.6-litre diesel engine producing 110 PS, has a six-speed manual gearbox, and is expected to achieve a combined fuel consumption of just 85.6 mpg (equivalent to 87 g/km of ).


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: The Golf SportWagen is available in S, SE, and GT (Trendline, Comfortline, and Highline in Canada) (GT is SEL in the USA) trim levels. There is also a Golf Estate R, using the same EA888 2.0 engine found in the MkVII Golf R hatchback. The Golf Variant is also built as a rugged version called Alltrack with slightly-raised suspension, body cladding, and all-wheel drive.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: The production version of the 2014 Volkswagen e-Golf was unveiled at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show. On 14 February 2014, Volkswagen launched sales of the e-Golf in Germany. In Norway, the e-Golf became available for pre-order on 25 February 2014 for delivery in June 2014. On 11 March 2014, Volkswagen opened ordering for the e-Golf in the UK with deliveries began at the end of June. Production of vehicles destined for retail customers began in March 2014. U.S sales started in selected states in November 2014 with a single SEL Premium model for the 2015 model year.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: According to VW the e-Golf has a practical all-electric range of , with an official NEDC cycle of , reduced to in the winter. Under the EPA driving cycle used in the United States, the 2015 e-Golf has a range of , and combined city/highway efficiency of (miles per gallon gasoline equivalent). Real-world experience showed range varied between , depending on the weather and use of climate control, with an average efficiency of 3.7 mi/kWh over of driving, mostly within the city. A heat pump was available as an option to reduce the power consumed by the heater in cold weather.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: The high-voltage traction battery has a storage capacity of 24.2 kWh, composed of 264 individual cells arranged in 27 modules of 6 or 12 cells each. It has a nominal voltage of 323 V. Overall weight of the entire vehicle, including driver, was , of which was the battery. Initially, the e-Golf was announced with a liquid-cooled battery in November 2013. However, the "liquid-cooled" description was removed from subsequent press releases in early 2014. Active thermal management for the battery pack was dropped because internal testing using Mk6 e-Golf prototypes showed high ambient temperatures did not affect battery performance. The smaller battery in the hybrid gasoline-electric GTE does use active thermal management, but that model is positioned as a hybrid version of the sporty GTI, rather than the e-Golf's equivalence as an electric version of the regular Golf Mk7.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: The 2014–2016 model year e-Golf has a traction motor (designed EEM 85) and single-speed gearbox (EQ 270) with an output of / in "Normal" mode; using "Eco" and "Eco+" mode reduces power / torque output to / and / , respectively; both Eco and Eco+ disable the air conditioning system. In addition, four different levels of regenerative braking can be selected. The standard on-board AC charger has a maximum input power rating of 3.6 kW; as an option, DC fast charging using a Combined Charging System (CCS) connector is available, accepting DC power at a maximum rate of 40 kW. The DC fast charging option also upgrades the on-board AC charger to 7.2 kW.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: Top speed was electronically limited to . Externally, the e-Golf can be distinguished from its fossil fueled Mk7 counterparts with full LED headlamps and deletion of the exhaust outlet.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: The 2017 version (Mk7.5) has an improved battery pack with a greater storage capacity of 35.8 kWh, giving a range of on the NEDC scale and an EPA rating of . In addition, the onboard charger was upgraded and accepts AC power at up to 7.2 kW as standard; DC fast charging (with CCS connector) was optional on the SE trim, and made standard for the SEL Premium and Limited Edition trims. Traction motor output also increased, to and , reducing acceleration time from 0 to to 9.6 seconds. Real-world testing indicated a full charge would provide a range of . For the 2020 model year, due to a change in the EPA testing procedure, the e-Golf was re-rated to a range and the combined efficiency rating dropped from .


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: The e-Golf was the last hatchback version of the Golf Mk7 produced in Europe, with production continuing until late December 2020 due to high demand, well after other powertrain variants which were discontinued in 2019. The successor ID.3 had been launched in 2019 and took over the e-Golf's Transparent Factory production line in Dresden, starting at the end of January 2021. In the United States, the production allotment of 2020 model year e-Golfs was diverted to Canada.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: In China, domestic e-Golf production by the FAW-Volkswagen joint venture supplanted vehicles imported from Wolfsburg, starting in 2019. This helped VW meet the electric vehicle quota imposed by China: starting in 2019, manufacturers that sell more than 30,000 vehicles per year must ensure that ten percent of those are electric. Chinese production of the e-Golf by FAW-VW at the Foshan plant continued into 2021 with two models, the Golf·Pure Electric Motor and Golf·Pure Electric Motor Pro; the Foshan plant, which produced MQB platform vehicles from its opening in 2014, was retooled to add a MEB vehicle production line and the first ID.4 CROZZ vehicles began production at Foshan in late November 2020.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: The Golf GTE plug-in hybrid is driven by two power sources: a 1.4-litre TSI direct-injection petrol engine and a 75 kW (102 hp) electric motor. Together, they combine to produce power of and of torque, with a theoretical range of . Using the electric motor alone, the GTE is capable of speeds of . With the TSI engine as well, the Golf GTE can accelerate from 0- in 7.6 seconds and on to a top speed of . The Golf GTE shares the basic powertrain hardware with the Audi A3 Sportback e-tron but the software controls are different. The Golf GTE also shares the same plug-in hybrid powertrain with the Volkswagen Passat GTE, but the Passat has a larger 9.9 kWh Li-ion battery pack.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: In EV mode, the Golf GTE has an official all-electric range of but in real work testing will often get around to miles of range. Under the New European Driving Cycle, combined fuel economy is equivalent. The electric power can also be saved—for example when driving to a zero-emissions zone. The 8.8 kWh lithium-ion battery can be charged in around three and a half hours from a domestic mains outlet, or two and a half hours from a domestic wallbox. The battery weighs , giving the GTE a total kerb weight of .


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: The car has 4 (or on some older models 5) driving modes. The car will always starts in all-electric mode (unless the battery has very low charge), a button beside the gear stick allows the driver to select between: Hybrid drive, Which allows the car to switch between electric drive and the petrol motor when driving. Charge Mode; which uses energy from the petrol engine to recharge the car’s battery. Battery Hold Mode, this solely uses the petrol engine to save battery power (only available on older models) and back to Electric mode. The final option called 'GTE Mode' has a separate button beside the gear stick which allows the car to use both the petrol engine and the electric motor for a punchy performance.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: The Golf GTE uses a six-speed DSG gearbox with a triple-clutch system specially developed for hybrid vehicles. The electric motor is integrated into the gearbox housing, while further hybrid components include power electronics and a charger. An electro-mechanical brake servo and an electric air conditioning compressor make for energy-efficient braking and air conditioning.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: Inside as on the outside, the Golf GTE features blue highlights where the GTI has red. This includes stitching on the steering wheel, gear lever gaiter and seats, and a blue stripe in the tartan pattern on the sports seats. It includes bespoke functions for electric vehicles, including the ability to identify potential destinations on electric range, and electric charging points. The GTE will also feature an e-manager which allows the driver to preset vehicle charging, as well as interior cooling or heating. These functions can also be operated remotely using the Volkswagen Car-Net app on a smartphone: a three-year subscription will be included in the UK.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: The first GTE units were registered in Germany in August 2014, and it was the second-best selling plug-in hybrid in Europe in 2015 with 17,282 sales.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: The Golf Mk7 GTD is powered by a 2.0-litre turbocharged common rail diesel engine with . Maximum torque—the characteristic that arguably best defines the easily accessible performance of the GTD—has risen from to from 1,750 rpm. The Golf R, in comparison, has from 1,800 rpm. Acceleration from 0- takes 7.5 seconds, while the top speed is . The GTD has a combined fuel consumption of , making for emissions of only 109 g/km. With the optional six-speed DSG, fuel consumption is and emissions of 119 g/km. For comparison, when the first generation Golf BlueMotion went on sale at the end of 2007, it had the same fuel economy and emissions.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: The Golf Mk7 GTI is powered by a 2.0-litre turbocharged direct-injection petrol engine (TSI) with . In the GTI Performance version, the engine's maximum power is boosted to . Both GTI models develop of torque. The standard GTI accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 6.5 seconds and can reach a top speed of 250 km/h. The GTI Performance has a top speed of 250 km/h and accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 6.4 seconds.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: Both versions of the GTI are equipped with a start-stop system and fulfil 2014 Euro 6 emissions standards. With a six-speed manual gearbox, they attain the same low fuel consumption value of ( emissions of 139 g/km). This means that the latest Golf GTI offers an 18 per cent improvement in fuel economy compared to the previous model. With the optional six-speed DSG gearbox, the two GTI models achieve fuel consumption figures of (equivalent to 148 g/km for the standard GTI and 149 g/km for the GTI Performance).


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: Buyers who purchase the £980 Performance pack not only gain 7 kW, but also gain upgraded brakes and a limited-slip differential. The front differential is a new development, dubbed VAQ. This provides more neutral and agile driving behaviour and allows higher speeds to be carried through curves. The system consists of a multi-plate coupler between the differential cage and right driveshaft, which controls locking torque electro-hydraulically. Visually, vehicles with the Performance Pack are distinguished by 'GTI' lettering on the front brake caliper, larger vented brake discs front and rear (the same as fitted to the 'R' version), and red GTI badges on the front and rear although some cars still retained their silver badging despite being fitted with the Performance Pack.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: As well as high performance, a high level of safety equipment comes as standard in the Golf GTI. On top of high passive safety levels—thanks in part to a passenger cell made from high- and ultra-high strength steels—active safety features include the Automatic Post-Collision Braking system, which automatically applies the vehicle brakes after an accident to reduce the chances of a second impact; the pre-crash system, which tensions seatbelts and closes windows and the sunroof if an accident is likely to improve the effectiveness of the airbags; and seven airbags as standard, including one for the driver's knees.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: In many markets including Mexico and South Africa, the GTI version is only available with the five-door body style, with no plans to introduce the three-door body.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: Volkswagen introduced a "Rabbit Edition" GTI for the 2019 model year. The Rabbit Edition featured a LED lighting package, "Vmax" spoiler, 18-inch "Pretoria" alloy wheels painted in gloss black, and red tags embroidered with the VW Rabbit logo on the seat.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: Volkswagen's Mexican division introduced an "Oettinger" version for the GTI for the 2021 model year. The Oettinger version features an aerodynamic kit for the front fascia with lip and splitters, side skirts, a new rear bumper with integrated diffuser and a new spoiler with flaps, which stand out next to the version-specific 18-inch wheel set and black side mirrors. It is available in three colour options; Pure White, Tornado Red and Cornflower Blue. It will go on sale on 7 December 2020 and 700 units will only be built.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: Volkswagen introduced the special-edition GTI Clubsport for 2016, coinciding with the GTI's 40th anniversary. The Clubsport was not available in the United States. On the exterior, the Clubsport features a revised front fascia, more aggressive rear hatch spoiler, new rear diffuser with larger exhaust tips, and a black stripe along the lower sides of the body. Inside the car, the Clubsport is equipped with bucket seats and an Alcantara steering wheel and shift lever.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: The Clubsport uses the same 2.0-litre "EA888" turbocharged inline-4 as the standard GTI which has been revised to produce 261 horsepower, with up to 286 horsepower for 10 seconds at a time via an included overboost feature which raises the engine's boost pressure by 0.2 bar, up to 2.1 bar. Transmission choices remain the same as the standard GTI, with both the 6-speed manual and 6-speed DSG available, both equipped with the standard GTI's optional limited-slip differential. Weight is listed as 1,375 kg. The Clubsport was available from the factory with optional Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires. The official 0-to-60 time is quoted as 5.9 seconds, 0.6 seconds quicker than the standard GTI with Performance Package.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: The 3-door GTI Clubsport S was a limited-edition version of the GTI Clubsport sold as a higher-strung version optimized for faster track times. Only 400 were produced for the 2016 model year. Upgrades from the Clubsport to the Clubsport S include new front suspension and subframe components, updated suspension alignment, upgraded brakes, a more highly-strung version of the GTI's 2.0L EA888 turbocharged inline-4 that produces and of torque, standard Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 track-oriented tires, removal of the rear seats and some sound deadening, and a quoted weight of 2,998 pounds (1,360 kg).


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: The result of these modifications is a lap time of 7 minutes 49.21 seconds around the Nürburgring Nordschleife track, 1.4 seconds faster than the Honda Civic Type R which held the previous record for a front wheel drive production car. The Clubsport S was released with an estimated base price of £35,000.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: In January 2019 Volkswagen introduced new high-performance variation Golf GTI TCR with 290 PS 2-litre engine and special trim.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: Like the GTI, the Golf R is also built as a three- or five-door hatchback. It is powered by a newly developed version of the turbocharged EA888 petrol FSI inline-four engine used in the latest Golf GTI, Audi S3, Volkswagen Tiguan and Jetta, wad dozens of other Volkwagon AG vehicles, but in this application producing (or for "hot climate" markets such as Australia, South Africa, Japan, and the US) from 5,500 to 6,200 rpm and from 1,800 to 5,500 rpm of torque. Compared to the GTI's powerplant, the Golf R's engine has a modified cylinder head, exhaust valves, valve seats and springs, pistons, injection valves and larger intercooler and turbocharger. DSG equipped models also come with an auxiliary oil cooler on the passenger side on right hand drive models.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: 0-62 mph (100 km/h) takes 5.1 seconds (versus 5.7 seconds for previous Golf R), or 4.9 seconds with optional DSG gearbox. The top speed is electronically limited to . Despite this increased performance, a combined fuel consumption of , and emissions of 165 g/km (159 g/km DSG) make the Golf R up to 18 percent more efficient than its predecessor.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: The R uses an updated, fifth-generation Haldex 4MOTION four-wheel drive system. Under low loads or when coasting, the rear axle is decoupled, helping to reduce fuel consumption. Drive to the rear axle can be engaged in fractions of a second via the Haldex coupling, which is actuated by an electro-hydraulic pump. Up to 50 percent of power can be transferred to the rear axle. A brake actuated, XDS+ system mimics a limited-slip differential by applying the brakes to the wheel with the least traction, this is on both the front and rear axles.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: The ride height is 20 mm lower than the standard Golf. Golf R models equipped with the optional 'DCC' (Dynamic Chassis Control), offer three suspension modes: 'Comfort', 'Normal', and 'Race'. Each mode adjusts the stiffness of the suspension damping, thereby offering drivers a way to change the way the vehicle responds by the push of a button. Comfort mode places the dampers in the softest setting, increasing the absorption of road imperfections allowing for a smoother and more comfortable ride. Race mode stiffens the dampers to their most aggressive setting, reducing body movements and increasing adhesion to the road for more precise high speed driving. Race mode also increases throttle response, firms up the steering for a heftier feel, and alters the shift pattern of the DSG gearbox (where fitted) as well as increases the speed of the Adaptive headlamps (AFS) response time.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: On top of ESC Sport mode, as found on the GTI and GTD, which delays intervention of the electronic stability control system, the R offers the option fully to disengage the ESC, for track driving.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: For the Canadian market, the optional Discover Pro 8" infotainment system is available as part of the single option "Technology Package", while only the 6.5" Discover is available to US consumers. In North America The Golf R comes standard with halogen tail lights and HID Bi-Xenon Headlight with LED front and side view mirror turn signals, while ROW markets received the options for a sunroof, a three-door version, and LED tail lights. All these features are not available to the North American version. The Golf R and e-Golf are the only Golf models available in North America that was produced in Germany. Other Golf models for the North American market are produced by Volkswagen de México in Puebla, Mexico.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: A limited edition Golf R400 was rumored in August 2015 by Heinz-Jakob Neusser, then-head of brand development, but in the wake of the Volkswagen emissions scandal (and Neusser's suspension) it was cancelled in favor of focusing on the Golf R.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: For the South African market, the Golf R received another upgrade in power in March 2019. The upgrade resulted in and of torque (up from and in the facelift seen in July 2017). Additionally the Golf R also provides the option of fitting an Akrapovič performance exhaust at the factory.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

text: In November 2016, Volkswagen revealed a facelifted version of the Golf Mk7. This model is referred to as the "New Golf" by Volkswagen while it is often informally referred to as the Golf 7.5. A new engine was introduced along with the facelift; a 1.5-litre TSI which produces or . Initially, the existing 1.4-litre TSI was available alongside the new 1.5-litre engine. The updated Golf GTI was increased from to in the standard car and from to with the performance pack. The Golf R similarly had its output increased from to . In addition, the facelift increased infotainment screen size across the range as well as adding the option for a fully digital dashboard. The rear lights now utilise LED technology as standard (including a "sweeping" indicator effect on performance models) while this technology is optional on most models for the headlights.