Trump threatens ‘severe’ tariffs on Canadian fertilizer ‘if we have to’
Global News
Trump made the comment during a roundtable event at the White House where he announced a US$12-billion tariff relief fund for American farmers.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday he may impose “very severe tariffs” on fertilizer from Canada “if we have to” in order to bolster domestic production.
Trump made the comment while taking questions from reporters during a roundtable event at the White House where he announced a US$12-billion tariff relief fund for American farmers, who have been facing rising costs for agricultural inputs like seed and fertilizer amid Trump’s global trade war.
“A lot of (fertilizer) does come in from Canada, and so we’ll end up putting very severe tariffs on that, if we have to, because that’s the way you want to bolster here,” Trump said.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said her department and others were working on a plan to reshore fertilizer production to the U.S., while also directing fertilizer manufacturers and other industrial players to lower their prices.
“The president has been very unequivocal in saying we have to figure out why all these input costs are skyrocketing,” Rollins said.
Many U.S. farmers rely on Canadian potash fertilizer from Saskatchewan in order to add potassium to their soils. Over 90 per cent of Canadian fertilizer is exported, and the U.S. market accounts for well over half of that, according to Fertilizer Canada.
When Trump imposed a blanket 25 per cent tariff on Canadian goods early this year, he lowered the tariff on fertilizer to 10 per cent after outcry from industry groups and Republican lawmakers in farming states, such as Sen. Chuck Grassley of Idaho.
That tariff only applies to quantities of fertilizer exports to the U.S. that exceed limits under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on free trade (CUSMA).
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