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Join on Telegram Rabat – More American politicians are joining the call for suspending tariffs on Moroccan-made fertilizers to cushion the effect of soaring fertilizer prices on farmers and food prices.
On May 17, the Senate of Michigan adopted a resolution urging the American Congress to approve the necessary legislation that would allow farmers and their labor unions to petition scrapping tariffs on Moroccan-imported fertilizers, according to official sources.
Sponsored by Republican Senator Curt Vanderwall, the legislation would allow farmers to present their complaints directly to the US International Trade Commission, the country’s foreign trade watchdog.
The petition would call for a temporary duties waiver on fertilizers and fertilizer ingredients imports from Morocco.
Dubbed the “VanderWall Resolution,” the resolution aims to mitigate the effect of the Ukraine war on the US’ market supplies.
Commenting on the resolution, Senator Vanderwall explained that “fertilizer prices in the U.S. are now at an all-time high. In some cases, they have more than tripled; this is a very serious problem and these prices are not sustainable.”
The rising cost of fertilizers is directly affecting farmers as some of them are considering “not fertilizing or not planting at all this year due to the sky-high cost of fertilizer,” he warned.
“When farmers face rising costs, everyday people end up spending more on food. With prices where they are, inaction isn’t really an option right now,” concluded the Republican Senator.
Read also: US Congressmen Propose Waiver for Moroccan Fertilizer Tariffs
This is not the first time that US lawmakers call for the US International Trade Commission to reconsider import duties on Moroccan fertilizers.
In March, more than 83 US congressmen and congresswomen sent a letter to the Commission (ITC), requesting the suspension of tariffs on fertilizers from Morocco and Trinidad and Tobago.
Signed by Republicans as well as Democrats, the letter sounded the alarm of the current state of the UK fertilizers supply market, as the restricted supply had caused a 93% hike in fertilizers prices.
Fertilizer prices took an upward trajectory in the US after Mosaic, a US fertilizers company, lobbied the US International Trade Commission to raise import duties on foreign fertilizers, citing unfair competition.
The measure allowed Mosaic to have a virtual monopoly over the American fertilizers market, leading farmers’ unions to push back against “the stranglehold Mosaic has placed on its customers.”
