U.S. ITC Rejects Duties on UAN Fertilizer from Russia, Trinidad and Tobago

WASHINGTON, DC -- On Monday, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) voted to reject a recommendation by the U.S. Department of Commerce to impose duties on imports of urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) fertilizer from Russia and Trinidad and Tobago. 

The recommendation from the U.S. Department of Commerce came after a ruling that the two countries were unfairly subsidizing exports of the fertilizer and dumping it into the U.S. at below market prices.

Russia and Trinidad and Tobago supply more than 80 percent of U.S. imports of UAN fertilizer, the most common type of nitrogen fertilizer.  The U.S. imported more than 1.8 million tons of UAN from the two countries last year.  The proposed duties would have ranged from about 17 to 130 percent on Russian imports, and totaled about 113 percent on imports from Trinidad and Tobago.

This decision comes in the wake of criticism from farm groups and Members of Congress publicly opposed to the implementation of the duties, stating that they would cause harm to farmers in the wake of record-high fertilizer prices.

“U.S. rice farmers continue to face sky-high fertilizer costs and other highly inflated input costs, coupled with relatively flat market prices.  This additional set of tariffs would have further exacerbated the situation, so this ruling is seen as positive for our industry,” said Jamison Cruce, USA Rice senior director of government affairs.  “USA Rice is advocating for at least $400 million in direct assistance for U.S. rice farmers to help offset disproportionate and continuously rising input costs.”