The US Department of Commerce will work to reduce duties imposed on phosphate fertilizers imported from Morocco, and raise fees on fertilizers coming from Russia, American media reports stated.
A 19.97 percent duty imposed on Moroccan fertilizer since 2020 is set to decrease to 2.12 percent, while duties imposed on Russian phosphate imports will be raised from 9.19 percent currently imposed to 28.50 percent.
This reduction in favor of Moroccan phosphate exports comes after the US Department of Commerce conducted an annual administrative review by examining shipment prices and other factors. It also comes days after it received a correspondence from more than 30 members of the US Senate calling on it to take this action.
The Senators’ correspondence with the Department of Commerce warned that these tax duties contributed to the rise in fertilizer prices in general, increased the costs of very important foodstuffs, and exposed farmers to the risk of insufficient supplies in the future, given the lack of sufficient domestic supplies to meet the needs of farmers in the United States. American.
In 2020, a US fertilizer producer, called Mosaic CO lobbied the Trump administration to impose tariffs on Moroccan phosphates due to they believed to be unfair subsidies for foreign importers.
Mosaic paid a lobbying firm called Ballard $1.49 million in fees to secure meetings with some of the top trade officials in the White House, including chief trade negotiator, Robert Lighthizer and the director of the National Trade Council, Peter Navarro.
To counter Mosaic’s action, the Moroccan government hired a competing lobbying firm Covington & Burling, which received $15 million in fees to battle the tariffs.
The decision to impose duties on Moroccan phosphate fertilizer imports was rendered effective by the ITC in March 2021.
The OCP Group, Morocco’s leading fertilizer producer and a global supermajor-producer of phosphate-based products, argued at the time that there was no basis to impose such duties against which many voices inside the American agriculture industry voiced their opposition, from distributors to cooperatives and elected officials.
The new tariffs lead to a sharp increase in fertilizer costs and product prices.
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