DR ‹ › A new bill introduced in the US Senate seeks to eliminate tariffs and countervailing duties on phosphate fertilizer imports from Morocco. Presented on Tuesday by Senator Roger Marshall, the «Lowering Input Costs for American Farmers Act» targets duties imposed in 2021 on Moroccan phosphate, a key component in global fertilizer markets. The proposal, co-sponsored by Senators Chuck Grassley, Cindy Hyde-Smith and Joni Ernst, aims to restore access to competitively priced supplies for American farmers. «Phosphate is a critical nutrient for crop production, and right now farmers are paying prices that threaten their bottom line», Marshall said. Several major US agricultural organizations have backed the initiative, including the American Soybean Association, the National Corn Growers Association and the American Farm Bureau Federation. These groups say lifting duties on Moroccan phosphate would ease input costs and help stabilize supply chains. Industry representatives also highlighted the financial impact of existing measures, with US wheat growers alone estimated to have incurred nearly $1 billion in additional costs due to duties on Moroccan fertilizer imports. The bill comes just weeks after more than 60 US agricultural organizations sent a letter to US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, urging the removal of tariffs on Moroccan phosphate fertilizers. The United States imposed tariffs and countervailing duties on phosphate fertilizer imports from Morocco after US producer Mosaic accused Morocco's OCP of benefiting from government subsidies, arguing this gave Moroccan exports an unfair price advantage.
