Bipartisan Bill Asks USDA to Analyze Effect of AD/CVD on Fertilizer Prices

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, in a radio interview in late December, explained that a bill he introduced with fellow Iowa Republican Joni Ernst and Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., was "not in any way going to guarantee farmers lower fertilizer costs, but we just want to know why fertilizer prices are going up as high as they have." The bill directs USDA to detail how much fertilizer, of what types, and from what companies and countries, is imported into the U.S., and asks the department to describe the "impacts that antidumping duties and countervailing duties have on prices of fertilizer paid at the retail level."

The Commerce Department is not allowed to consider the effect on consumers when calculating AD/CVD, but the bill also asks USDA for an overview of the distribution channels, logistics, supply chain and manufacturing disruptions due to natural disasters. That was an issue in the injury determination for phosphate fertilizers from Russia and Morocco (see 2309190060 and 2312070063).