Posted on March, 18, 2025 at 09:52 am
Canada’s proposed retaliatory tariffs against the United States could deliver a harsh blow to the nation’s grain producers by driving up the cost of an essential crop nutrient, according to the Grain Growers of Canada (GGC).
GGC Executive Director Kyle Larkin said his organization has closely examined the federal government’s list of potential US counter tariff targets.
Fertilizer sits at the top of that list, especially phosphate fertilizer, which has no domestic production in Canada.
“There is no domestic phosphate production here, so we rely on imports, and the United States is our major supplier,” said Larkin.
“A 25% tariff on phosphate fertilizer definitely would have an impact on grain farmers.”
Statistics from Fertilizer Canada show that from 2018 to 2023, Canada imported an annual average of 4.12 million tonnes of fertilizer from the US that included 1.46 million tonnes of monoammonium phosphates (MAP) and 92,027 tonnes of diammonium phosphate (DAP).
The total also included 937,000 tonnes of urea, 310,158 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, and 518,232 tonnes of fertilizers containing both nitrogen and phosphorus.
Even some US sourced potash is flowing into Eastern Canada, replacing supply lost when tariffs were imposed on Russian and Belarusian potash.
Larkin noted the bright spot is that most of the fertilizer needed for the 2025 growing season has already been purchased and delivered.
However, a 25% price increase would affect farmers in 2026 if the government keeps the US sourced fertilizer tariffs.
“Farmers are already experiencing dropping commodity prices, while facing sky-high input costs and increased government regulations and taxation,” said Larkin.
“The potential tariff on fertilizer is a massive concern. If Ottawa goes ahead, we’re calling on them to compensate producers. Any funds raised through tariffs on essential products like fertilizer should go back to the producer.”
Canada has already slapped a 25% tariff on $30 billion worth of US goods and plans further tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.
An additional $125 billion in US imports, including fertilizer, could be affected if President Donald Trump follows through on his threat of steeper tariffs in April.
“We’re submitting our concerns to Ottawa,” said Larkin.
“They need to recognize the serious toll this could take on Canadian grain farmers.”
Source: Western Standard