The president of the United States, Donald Trump, authorized the temporary elimination of tariffs on phosphate fertilizers from Morocco to guarantee the supply chain against the risk of shortages.
The measure, announced through a presidential proclamation this week, declares an emergency over threats to the supply of these fertilizers and allows their importation free of certain tariffs for up to eight months or until the emergency ends, whichever comes first.
The White House argued that global supply chains have been affected in recent months by conflicts in producing regions and by trade measures adopted by some of the main exporting countries.
According to the Government, national production is not enough to meet the demand of American farmers.
Morocco is one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of phosphates, a raw material used to manufacture phosphate fertilizers. Through the state-owned company OCP Group, the country concentrates a significant part of the world’s phosphate rock reserves and is a key supplier to numerous agricultural markets, including the United States.
The text maintains that phosphate fertilizers are essential for crops such as corn, soybeans and wheat, and warns that any interruption in their supply could affect food production, with consequences for the economic and national security of the United States.
The proclamation instructs the Secretaries of the Treasury and Commerce to apply the tariff exemption, monitor the evolution of the emergency and report to Congress on the measures adopted, while the Government works with the private sector to expand national fertilizer production capacity.