Trade group warns Morocco phosphate duty suspension risks lasting U.S. dependence on OCP

The Coalition for a Prosperous America has urged the Trump administration to allow the temporary duty-free window for Moroccan phosphate fertilizer imports to expire on schedule, arguing that permanent relief would rebuild U.S. dependence on OCP, Morocco’s state-owned phosphate monopoly. The trade group’s August analysis cited the Commerce Department’s July 2026 preliminary sunset review, which found that revoking the countervailing duty order would likely mean renewed subsidization at a rate of 20.04% — the highest finding in the order’s five-year history.

President Trump declared a national emergency over fertilizer supplies on June 29 and signed a proclamation suspending countervailing duties on Moroccan phosphate imports for up to eight months. The action followed years of lobbying by farm groups who argued the duties, first imposed in 2021 after Florida-based Mosaic alleged that OCP benefited from unlawful government subsidies, added billions of dollars to U.S. farm input costs.

The Coalition countered that U.S. phosphate was already the cheapest major benchmark globally even with duties in effect, because the binding constraint on prices is global sulfur supply disruptions rather than tariff policy. OCP controls approximately 70% of the world’s known phosphate reserves and holds a 31% share of the global phosphate market. The June 29 duty suspension remains in effect through at least February 2027.

Source: Coalition for a Prosperous America