President Donald Trump declared a national emergency over US phosphate fertilizer supply Monday, signing a proclamation that temporarily suspends anti-dumping and countervailing duties on Moroccan phosphate imports for up to eight months or until the emergency ends.
The proclamation states that domestic phosphate production is “insufficient to support domestic agricultural food production” after accounting for exports, and that supply chain threats require sourcing from “diversified foreign sources,” including Morocco.
Related: Fertilizer Prices Up 87% This Year as Iran War Chokes Global Supply
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The duties, first imposed in 2021 after a petition from Mosaic, which controls roughly 75% of US phosphate production, had cut America’s share of Moroccan imports to just 2%, with Peru filling the gap. Texas corn producer Dee Vaughan, who lobbied on the issue for over a year, called the suspension “very timely” heading into fall applications.
Morocco’s state-owned producer, OCP Group, sits atop more than 70% of the world’s known phosphate reserves. China and Russia control close to 40% of the global processed phosphate export market and have shown willingness to restrict exports for political leverage, leaving Morocco as the only supplier able to meet US demand without geopolitical strings attached.
Read: China Curbs Fertilizer Exports Amid Global Supply Crunch and Rising Prices
The war between the US, Israel, and Iran has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and driven fertilizer prices sharply higher. US farm bankruptcies jumped 46% in 2025, and a spring survey from the American Farm Bureau Federation found roughly 70% of farmers couldn’t afford enough fertilizer for the current growing season.
Read: US Farm Bankruptcies Jump 46% as Fertilizer Crisis Compounds Years of Losses
The White House is also pursuing longer-term fixes, including a February Defense Production Act order to boost domestic elemental phosphorus production, though officials acknowledged those efforts will take years to meaningfully increase supply. Shipments from Morocco take 90 to 120 days to arrive, and analysts caution that broader market economics, not just the tariff suspension, will ultimately determine whether prices actually fall.
