A bipartisan group of senators and House members is urging the International Trade Commission to consider farmer voices as it decides what to do about Moroccan phosphate imports.
In September, a Court of International Trade judge ruled that the ITC erred when it decided in 2021 that subsidized imports of Moroccan phosphate harmed domestically producers of fertilizer. The judge remanded the matter to the ITC to reconsider its “affirmative material injury determination.”
Separately, last month the Commerce Department decided as part of an annual review to reduce tariffs on Moroccan phosphate fertilizer from 19.97% to 2.12%, but the National Corn Growers Association said in a news release that decision “was retroactive and largely academic, as the Moroccan company [OCP] producing the fertilizers has halted shipping of all but one of its products into the U.S.”
“Efforts to permanently reduce the duties will involve several steps and multiple agencies over the coming months,’ NCGA said. “This month, Commerce will have another opportunity to make the lower duties permanent when it considers a remand on the issue,” also from the CIT.
As the ITC reconsiders its determination, lawmakers led by Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., are urging the ITC to allow farmers to comment. Major U.S. phosphate manufacturer Mosaic has asked the commission to remove from the record a Dec. 7 letter from NCGA and dozens of other ag groups, on the grounds that they are not “interested parties."
In their Dec. 7 letter, however, those groups said several of them had submitted an amicus brief in 2021 opposing the ITC’s determination.
In the congressional letter, 13 lawmakers said growers should be allowed to provide input.
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Noting that the ITC had sent a questionnaire regarding the matter only to U.S. producers and importers of phosphate, they said, “We believe that the commission is arbitrarily limiting both the information allowed to be submitted and the parties permitted to respond.”
"When it comes to tariffs on inputs, our farmers want their voices to be heard,” Marshall said in a statement to Agri-Pulse. “However, just this week, there was a petition to block the ITC from considering over 50 state and national commodity organizations from weighing in on fertilizer duties' impact on our farmers.”
He said it “makes no sense” not to hear from commodity groups and retailers. “Perhaps they believe if they keep the fact-finding mission small, they can more easily justify a predetermined outcome," Marshall said.
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