Canadian fertilizer industry says US President Donald Trump's threat is 'very serious' tariffs would “jeopardize” North American agricultural supply chains if they were imposed, warning the US doesn't have enough potash reserves to replace Canadian imports.
Trump said Monday as he announced billions of dollars in government aid for American farmers hit by high prices, including for fertilizers. that he could levy tariffs on Canadian fertilizer “if necessary” in order to stimulate domestic production.
In the statement Fertilizers Canada stated that increasing fertilizer production “cannot happen overnight and may take 10 to 15 years.”
“The imposition of tariffs threatens the deeply integrated and open trading relationship that is vital to North American agricultural producers,” the statement said.
“To protect the competitiveness of North American farmers, access to a reliable supply of duty-free fertilizer is essential.”
American farmers rely on Canadian potash fertilizers from Saskatchewan to enrich their soils with potassium. Canada has the largest reserves of potash fertilizer in the world: more than 1.1 billion tons, more than a third of the world's reserves, compared to 220 million tons in the United States. According to the US Geological Survey.
The U.S. “does not have sufficient reserves to meet domestic demand,” Fertilizer Canada said, noting that U.S. farmers used 5.3 million tons of potash fertilizer in 2023, while the country produced about 400,000 tons. Canada produced approximately 21.9 million tons of potash in 2023.
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The USGS reported that between 2020 and 2023, 79 percent of potash imports came from Canada.
The industry group also noted that Canadian farmers also rely on U.S. phosphates for fertilizer, with 95 percent of Canada's phosphate supply coming from the United States.
“Fertilizers play a vital role in ensuring food security,” it said. “Farmers on both sides of the border rely on fertilizers made in North America to grow strong, healthy, high-yielding crops that feed us all.”
Currently, Canadian fertilizer exports to the United States that exceed limits under the Canada-United States-Mexico Free Trade Agreement (CUSMA) are subject to a 10 percent tariff—lower than the general 25 percent tariff on most other non-CUSMA exports.
Trump cut tariffs on fertilizers as well as Canadian energy after opposition from U.S. agricultural groups and Republican lawmakers in farm states like Iowa.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Monday that her agency and others are working on a plan to move fertilizer production to the U.S. while directing fertilizer makers and other industry players to cut prices.
“The president has said very clearly that we need to figure out why all these production costs are skyrocketing,” Rollins said.
Trump has long argued that his tariffs are not causing prices to rise, even though most economists agree that companies forced to pay tariffs on foreign imports pass on additional costs to consumers.
The US Supreme Court is currently hearing a case that centers on Trump's ability to impose tariffs unilaterally under emergency powers, including blanket non-CUSMA tariffs on Canada and Mexico.
“Thanks to tariffs that are easily and quickly applied, our national security has greatly increased and we have become the strongest financial country by far anywhere in the world,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post late Monday.
“Only dark and sinister forces would like to see such an end!!!”
The Trump administration has said it is looking into raising prices for farm products and machinery. Soybean farmers expect to see losses for the third year in a row in 2025, according to the American Soybean Association.
Canada's agriculture industry is already facing pressure from high tariffs on canola, pork and seafood from China. Diplomatic efforts to reduce these tariffs have so far yielded no results.
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