U.S. Trade Body Junks High Tariffs On Fertilizers From Russia, Trinidad

FreshFruitPortal.com reported that the US International Trade Commission (ITC) voted on Monday (Tuesday, July 19, 2022 in Manila) to eliminate import duties on urea ammonium nitrate fertilizers from Russia and Trinidad and Tobago, a move that could help alleviate shortages and price increases for farm inputs.

Photo Insert: The ruling eliminates the recently imposed US combined taxes of up to 132,6% on Russian urea nitrate fertilizer solutions and 113.56% on similar imports from Trinidad and Tobago.

The ITC defended the repeal of major anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tariffs by asserting that the imports in question did not harm American producers. In recent months, fertilizer prices have increased significantly due in large part to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, both of which are important exporters.

The ruling eliminates the recently imposed US combined taxes of up to 132,6% on Russian urea nitrate fertilizer solutions and 113.56% on similar imports from Trinidad and Tobago.

In response to a petition from CF Industries Nitrogen of Deerfield, Illinois in June 2021, the Commerce Department issued the final duty rates on June 21 as part of an investigation.

President of the National Corn Growers Association, Chris Edgington, stated: "This comes as a welcome relief. We have been sounding the alarms and telling the ITC commissioners that tariffs will drive up input prices to even more unaffordable levels for farmers and cripple our supply. I am so glad they listened."

According to the commission, all five commissioners voted to reject the levies based on the finding of no damage to domestic industry.

However, in March 2021, the panel ruled that imports of phosphate fertilizer from Russia and Morocco harmed U.S. producers, resulting in five-year anti-subsidy charges.

According to the Commerce Department, the United States imported urea ammonium nitrate fertilizers worth $262,6 million from Russia and $231,1 million from Trinidad and Tobago in 2021.

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