Bicameral Letter Criticizes CVD Case on Russian Phosphate Fertilizer
Senators from Kansas, Arkansas and Tennessee and seven Republican House members from Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Georgia, North Carolina and South Dakota are asking the Commerce Department to reevaluate its data set in the administrative review of the countervailing duty order on phosphate fertilizer from Russia.
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"We strongly urge your careful review of the methodology applied in this case to ensure that a fair and representative benchmark is established," Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., and his colleagues wrote. They acknowledged to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo that trade remedy law dictates the department's findings, and said they're not for trade distortions, but added: "we are concerned that the Department erred by basing this substantial decision on a small, unrepresentative data set. A 53.29% duty will have a detrimental impact on both the price and availability of phosphate fertilizer for American farmers, compromising productivity and competitiveness as well as global food security."
"Phosphate fertilizers are an essential crop input, necessary to support plant health and growth and represent a significant portion of farmer’s cost of production. Imports have become increasingly important to satisfy growing U.S. demand as domestic production of these fertilizers have steadily declined. Existing duties have already shifted trade flows away from the largest sources and restricted access. Meanwhile, these major supplying countries continue to provide phosphate fertilizer, unencumbered, at a lower cost, to markets like Brazil that directly compete with American farmers," they wrote.
Marshall publicized the letter Oct. 5. He did not mention that the imports are from Russia (see 2305030065).