Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), lifelong farmer and member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, joined Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and many of his colleagues in urging the International Trade Commission (ITC) to address the strain on the fertilizer supply chain to bring down costs. Specifically, the lawmakers ask the ITC to eliminate duties on phosphate fertilizer products imported from Morocco and to suspend efforts to impose new duties on urea ammonium fertilizer from Trinidad and Tobago.
“I continue hearing from Iowa farmers concerned that these sky-high prices will make it even more difficult to earn a living, and I’ve even felt the effects on my own farm. Soaring inflation is making matters worse, driving up the cost of other critical inputs farmers rely on. I’ll continue to urge the ITC and the Biden administration to take necessary action to lower costs,” Grassley said.
“Fertilizers and other inputs have been at an all-time high, and the war in Ukraine promises to drive up the price of products even more,” said Iowa farmer and NCGA President Chris Edgington. “Fertilizers have become increasingly hard to secure and pay for because of tariffs or the threat of tariffs on imports.”
In their letter to ITC Chair Jason Kearns, the lawmakers warned that farmers are facing fertilizer prices four to five times higher than last year.
“Eliminating these duties on fertilizer imports provides the most immediate opportunity for a near term, partial remedy to the high costs of fertilizer facing U.S. farmers before the end of the 2022 planting season,” the lawmakers concluded.
Grassley has also called on Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate concerns raised by American farmers about possible anticompetitive activity and market manipulation in the fertilizer industry. In addition to speaking with Iowans concerned about fertilizer costs during town meetings, Grassley has had conversations with Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig, Iowa Farm Bureau, Farm Credit Services of America and others.
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