Countervailing duties on Morocco and Russia are another challenge for American farmers
A coalition of American agriculture groups are asking Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to help U.S. farmers manage rising input costs.
A March 20 letter signed by more than 60 organizations calls on Lutnick to revoke countervailing duties on phosphate fertilizer imports from Russia and Morocco.
The U.S. has had countervailing duties on these fertilizers since 2021.
The government imposed the duties after the fertilizer company Mosaic argued these foreign companies were undercutting domestic prices.
They currently range between 16 and 20 per cent for Moroccan fertilizer, and up to almost 50 per cent on Russian fertilizer.
Leaving these duties in place means farmers, and ultimately their crops, will suffer.
“Maintaining the phosphate fertilizer CVDs will allow a small set of powerful corporations to continue to limit supply options for farmers,” the letter says. “This has already prevented farmers from accessing the tools that meet their crop production needs and resulted in lower yields and negative economic impacts.”
The International Trade Commission launched its scheduled sunset review for this year to determine whether the duties should continue.
Americans have until April 1 to provide responses related to the issue.
The letter, signed by groups like the American Soybean Association, National Corn Growers Association, the National Association of Wheat Growers, and multiple state groups, says they must not.
Removing these duties will provide farmers with the relief they need to navigate challenging times.
“Eliminating these duties would help restore balance to fertilizer markets by providing immediate relief to growers facing elevated input costs and a lack of availability,” the letter states.
Other members of the president’s administration have acknowledged higher input costs.
In a March 22 social media post, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins reassured producers the administration is “keeping every option on the table to keep supplies stable and costs under control.”
Some U.S. media outlets have reported this could include suspending the duties on Morocco and Russia.
This most recent call for action from the U.S. agriculture sector is one of multiple in recent days.
On March 25, industry urged the White House to establish reasonable guidelines allowing farmers to benefit from 45Z tax credits.
On March 19, groups wrote directly to President Trump asking for additional financial support on top of the Farmer Bridge Assistance Program.
And on March 13 the Agricultural Retailers Association expressed concern to President Trump about fertilizer supply disruptions.