Hunter
03/17/25
Iowa farmers will pay a 10 percent tariff on potash, the most-used fertilizer in the state, starting next month.
Canada supplies about 85 percent of America’s supply of potash. President Trump initially threatened a 25 percent tariff on all Canadian goods, but reduced it to 10 percent for potash and energy products from Canada starting April 2.
Aaron Lehman is president of the Iowa Farmer’s Union. He told the Gazette that farmers often cannot use other fertilizers as a substitute because they don’t have the potassium in them crucial to a crop’s development.
Lehman said even temporary tariffs can have long-term effects. He pointed out that during the first Trump administration, tariffs were placed on China, which led to buyers of US farm products getting them from other countries who were seen as more reliable. Even when trade relations improved, the demand for US farm products did not fully rebound.