US Lawmakers Push to Maintain Tariffs on Moroccan Fertilizer Imports

Representatives Gregory Steube (R-FL) and Vern Buchanan (R-FL), both members of the House Trade Subcommittee, in a letter dated October 26, asked Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to "strictly enforce" U.S. trade laws. According to them, easing countervailing duties would leave U.S. fertilizer producers vulnerable to "unfairly traded" imports subsidized by "deep-pocketed foreign governments," reports Fertilizerdaily.com.

It should be recalled that based on the conclusions of the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding subsidies for phosphate fertilizers by the governments of Morocco and Russia, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) had imposed countervailing duties on imports of these materials from the two countries. A countervailing duty of 19% had then been imposed on products from the Moroccan giant OCP. On September 19, the U.S. Court of International Trade ordered the ITC to re-evaluate its decision on tariffs on phosphates and conduct a new analysis of the situation within seven months.

In June 2020, U.S. company Mosaic had filed a complaint in which it claimed that "large quantities of phosphate from Morocco and Russia are unfairly subsidized, causing great harm to its interests" in the U.S. market. In March 2021, the ITC indicated that the United States "had suffered material injury due to imports of phosphate fertilizers" from Morocco and Russia and imposed duties on fertilizer imports from the OCP group. Several agricultural groups had appealed this decision due to its negative impact on U.S. farmers. The latter are facing "a severe shortage of fertilizer supply."