Republican lawmakers revealed a letter to President Joe Biden written on Thursday urging his administration to waive worldwide import duties on fertilizer.
“We request that you just invoke your authority to waive duties on fertilizer imports that your administration imposed,” the bicameral lawmakers, led by Senator Invoice Hagerty (Tenn.), wrote.
The senators particularly referenced the administration’s duties on phosphate fertilizer from Morocco, in addition to requesting that the administration place a moratorium on new duties out of Trinidad and Tobago.
“At a time when inflation is the very best in 41 years—together with document fertilizer costs—the Biden Admin imposed duties on UAN fertilizer from long-time provider Trinidad & Tobago,” Hagerty wrote, referring to urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) fertilizer.
Hagerty was joined in his letter by six fellow senators and 25 members of the Home.
The lawmakers lamented the present scarcity of fertilizers and excessive fertilizer costs, arguing that the Biden administration’s obligation choices are exacerbating these points.
“Coupled with inflation on the highest it has been in 41 years and a Shopper Value Index for meals up 14.6%, the rising value of fertilizer will enhance meals insecurity and geopolitical stress domestically and overseas,” they wrote.
Hagerty, joined by 18 different senators, wrote a letter in March calling on the Biden administration to reply to record-high fertilizer costs, partly because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine weeks earlier.
“We’re subsequently urging your administration to overview all out there choices to decrease the price of fertilizer,” the senators wrote on the time, suggesting that the administration remove the cross-border vaccine mandate for transporters of important commerce, add agricultural minerals to the Division of the Inside’s Listing of Essential Minerals and take a number of different actions.
Based on Thursday’s letter, 65% of imported UAN was from Trinidad and Tobago earlier than the Division of Commerce’s restrictions.
Fifteen % of imported phosphate got here from Morocco earlier than the restrictions, the letter stated.
“Farmers nonetheless considerably depend on imports to completely meet demand,” wrote the lawmakers, calling the fertilizer merchandise “constructing blocks to U.S. agricultural productiveness.”
“The underside line is that fertilizer is important to nationwide safety and nationwide protection,” they wrote. “As such, we strongly encourage you to take instant motion to waive duties on fertilizer imports from Morocco and Trinidad and Tobago.”
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