Emails Reveal Mosaic’s Lobbying to Dominate US Fertilizer Market, Exclude Moroccan Rival

American Oversight, a non-profit organization that monitors U.S. public policies, obtained emails through a Freedom of Information Act (FOI) request, which reveal how Mosaic manipulated decision-makers in Washington to overtax Moroccan fertilizers, push out its major competitor, the OCP group, and benefit from a monopoly situation. It took control of 90% of the U.S. phosphate fertilizer market. Maneuvers that were orchestrated with the services of Ballard Partners, one of the main fundraisers for Donald Trump’s campaign under his administration. Services that cost Mosaic $1.49 million, according to the investigative site The Intercept.

High-level meetings were organized with White House trade officials. Mosaic’s lobbying had argued that OCP receives state subsidies, giving it an unfair advantage over other competitors. During a trip to Washington, Mosaic’s leaders argued that phosphate fertilizers produced in Morocco represented a "competitive threat to their business." Yet, Morocco alone controls nearly 75% of the world’s phosphate reserves.

In an email to a trade representative advisor on June 5, 2017, Syl Lukis, a Ballard Partners lobbyist, asked to meet with the Trump administration’s chief trade negotiator, Robert Lighthizer. He also wrote in an email that Mosaic’s CEO and senior vice president of phosphate production had already planned a meeting with Peter Navarro, the director of the National Trade Council. "There are international trade issues they would like to discuss regarding Moroccan phosphate production," Syl Lukis wrote.

In the space of three years, Mosaic’s lobbying has achieved its plans. In 2020, the Trump administration recommends tariffs on Moroccan phosphate fertilizers. On March 12, 2021, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) imposed duties on imports of OCP group fertilizers. Mosaic has succeeded in pushing out the Moroccan giant. A "success" that is not without consequences for American farmers. They are facing "a severe shortage of fertilizer supply."