President Donald Trump's scheme to buy potash from Belarus has drawn a alert from the chief of Canada's biggest potash-producing province, who says the fertilizer would have to be shipped through Russia.
His comments came following Trump stated Monday that the US is negotiating a "massive Deal" to buy potash from Belarus.
"The pricing would be for substantially small than we are currently paying to Canada, extremely fine news for our Farmers and Ranchers.," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Potash is a key fertilizer component used to boost crop yields, and Canada supplies the huge bulk of US imports.
The recommendation is the latest forefront in Trump's trade combat alongside Canada.
His administration has often targeted Canadian exports, although potash has mostly been exempted from tariffs stated its importance to US agriculture.
Scott Moe, the premier of Saskatchewan, asserted that Belarusian potash would have to journey through Russia before reaching US farmers, raising questions concerning Trump's assertion that it would be cheaper.
"Does anyone accept Belarusian lifeblood potash shipped through Russia is going to be additional affordable, additional sustainable or additional ethical than potash shipped from Saskatchewan - correct current in North America?" Moe wrote in a article on X.
Belarus is landlocked, and sanctions imposed complete its assistance for Russia's intrusion of Ukraine, alongside alongside the defeat of its chief export path through Lithuania, have made its potash additional costly to container to the US through Russia.
Moe has earlier warned against using potash as a trade weapon.
As Canada weighed retaliatory commerce measures final month, he urged Ottawa not to mark potash exports, arguing that the move would hurt Canadian producers and advance US buyers to appearance elsewhere.
Whether Belarus can considerably addition shipments to the US is additionally unclear.
Belarusian chief Alexander Lukashenko stated before this duration that Belarus had resumed marketing potash to the US following Washington lifted sanctions on Belarusian potash producers.
He additionally called on Washington to publish additional than $40 myriad in Belarusian finances icy in the US banking system.
On Monday, Lukashenko suggested Belarus may have small additional potash accessible for new Western buyers.
"We merely do not have those volumes - everything is contracted," he said, according to a article from his office.
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Huileng Tan is a elder newsman based in Singapore, covering markets, the earth economy, commodities, and investing. Her reporting focuses on how shifts in money, demographics, technology, and policy are reshaping businesses, wealth, and mundane life about the world.Since joining Business Insider in 2021, she has covered everything from commodity booms and investor trends to China's economy, the AI trade, and the forces driving global markets.Before joining Business Insider, she reported for CNBC, Dow Jones, ICIS, and The Wall Street Journal.Reach her at [email protected].
