US Congressmen urge President Biden to drop tariffs on Moroccan fertilizers

A bipartisan group of U.S. congressmen urged President Joe Biden to waive duties on fertilizer imports from Morocco and Trinidad & Tobago following the spike of fertilizer prices because of a severe supply shortage.

Over thirty senators and House representatives sent on Thursday a letter to President Biden requesting him to help U.S. farmers with waivers on fertilizers as he did just few weeks ago with the solar panel industry.

In their letter, the lawmakers write: “As you know, America is facing a serious supply shortage of fertilizers, leading to record high fertilizer prices. […] You have the authority to provide farmers with immediate relief from these inflationary tariffs, somewhat similarly as you did for the solar industry”.

In fact, “the justifications mentioned in your June 6 Proclamation are far more applicable to shortages farmers face with fertilizer than any emergency concerning solar panels, as the subsequent decrease in food production will increase prices at the grocery store and increase food insecurity,” underlined the Congressmen.

They affirmed that “fertilizer is critical to national security and national defense. Its affordability is also critical to wrangling out-of-control inflation”.

Last month, Biden waived tariffs on solar panels from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam for two years and used the Defense Production Act to spark the creation of solar panels in the United States.