US postpones import tax on fertilizer from Russia for a few months

The US government has decided to introduce new tariffs on Russian fertilizer imports a few months later. The sanctions announced in August are designed to punish Alexander Lukashenko's regime for fraudulent elections and in response to his "migrant smuggling into the European Union."

The Biden administration still plans to sanction the export of potash fertilizer from Belarus, but will not do so until the end of April. That gives American farmers time to stock up, according to the National Corn Growers Association.

The Biden administration first announced sanctions against Belarus in August — including against two large state-owned companies that export potash, about 13 million tons of manure a year.

A confluence of events is currently leading to higher fertilizer costs worldwide. For example, China blocked the export of phosphate fertilizers, and Hurricane Ida affected the production of glyphosate and nitrogen in the United States. In addition, the US Department of Commerce recommended the imposition of tariffs on imports of urea-ammonium nitrate from Russia and Trinidad and Tobago.

Also, the US International Trade Commission has ruled this year to allow tariffs on imports of phosphate fertilizers from Morocco and Russia. The Moroccan fertilizer producer OCP is appealing this ruling.

“The American farmer should not suffer for the trade practices of foreign governments or for disagreements between multinationals,” said a spokesman for the American farmers. “Yet that is exactly what happens when sanctions or tariffs are introduced. Farmers pay the price, others benefit.”