Grassley: Tell President to Ease Tariffs on Imported Fertilizer
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said agricultural interests need to lobby the Trump administration about tariffs on imported fertilizers, given how high input costs have risen as prices for row crops have fallen.
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China, the world's largest market for soybeans, isn't purchasing American soybeans, despite the tariff war's detente.
"We gotta be pressuring the president not to put tariffs on fertilizers coming into the country," he said, giving the example of phosphate from Morocco. However, President Donald Trump didn't impose the 16.6% countervailing duty on Moroccan fertilizer from OCP Group; it was part of a trade remedy case. Trump added 10% through reciprocal tariffs, but Grassley said the difference between 16% and 26% "doesn't make much difference."
"When Mosaic has 85% of the market in the United States, they don't need the protection that comes from that," Grassley argued, referring to the domestic fertilizer manufacturer that requested the countervailing duty case on Moroccan fertilizer.