Declaration of Emergency and Authorization for Temporary Duty Free Importation of Phosphate Fertilizer Morocco
The President declared a national emergency concerning the availability of sufficient phosphate fertilizers needed for agricultural production, citing global supply chain disruptions exacerbated by international conflicts and trade actions.
To mitigate the immediate threat to U.S. food security and economic stability during the crucial planting season, the action authorizes the Secretaries of the Treasury and Commerce to permit the importation of phosphate fertilizers from the Kingdom of Morocco duty-free for a period of up to eight months, or until the emergency is terminated.
Arguments For
Mitigating immediate risks to food production and national security caused by global supply chain disruptions affecting phosphate fertilizer availability.
Ensuring timely and adequate nutrient supply for critical crops (corn, soybeans, wheat) during the upcoming planting and growing seasons.
Utilizing existing legal authority (Section 318 of the Tariff Act of 1930) to execute targeted, temporary trade relief for essential agricultural inputs.
Diversifying foreign sources of phosphate fertilizer quickly by leveraging reliable supply partners, such as the Kingdom of Morocco, while domestic capacity expands.
Arguments Against
Potential negative impact on domestic phosphate fertilizer producers who may face increased competition from duty-free imports.
Setting a precedent for invoking emergency economic measures for specific imported goods, potentially circumventing standard trade policy mechanisms.
Uncertainty regarding the duration of the duty-free allowance and its effect on long-term procurement strategies for U.S. farmers.
Risk of overreliance on a single foreign source (Morocco) for emergency supply if the duration of the disruption extends beyond the initial 8-month period.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
This indicates the document is a formal decree issued by the President of the United States, known as a Proclamation.
- Fertilizers are an essential component of agriculture and food production. Producers of corn, soybeans, wheat, and a variety of other crops need phosphate fertilizers to ensure strong crop yields to feed the population. Food production is critical to human health, farm security, and to the function of major sectors of the economy, and even isolated interruptions in food production can have serious health and economic consequences. Robust and reliable food production is therefore critical to the economic and national security of the United States.
This section establishes the critical necessity of phosphate fertilizers for major U.S. crops like corn, soybeans, and wheat.
It frames reliable food production as fundamental to human health, farm security, and the overall economic and national security of the United States.
- During the planting and growing season, soil and crops require critical nutrients, including the phosphorus supplied by phosphate fertilizers, and in the coming months, farmers will apply more than half of annually consumed phosphate fertilizers between the fall and very early spring prior to next spring’s planting. To ensure a stable food supply, predictable and timely sources of phosphate fertilizer must be procured to meet United States demand, which requires adequate supply of phosphate fertilizer, a critical type of plant food.
This paragraph highlights the critical timing of phosphate fertilizer application, noting that over half of the annual consumption occurs between the fall and early spring.
It emphasizes that predictable and timely procurement of this vital nutrient is necessary to maintain a stable food supply leading into the next planting season.
- Global supply chains for phosphate fertilizer and fertilizer inputs, including imports of such products into the United States, have been disrupted in recent months by, among other things, conflicts in fertilizer-producing regions as well as trade actions taken by major fertilizer-producing countries. For example, the United States’ largest foreign source of phosphate fertilizer has experienced supply chain disruption, placing additional pressure on the farm economy and the production of certain categories of domestic food. Persistent threats to the global fertilizer supply chain, which create rapid price increases and procurement challenges, require the United States to procure phosphate fertilizer from diversified foreign sources to mitigate the significant risk of harm to the agricultural food production of the United States.
This section identifies external factors causing instability in the global phosphate fertilizer market, specifically mentioning conflicts and trade actions in major producing nations.
Because the U.S. faces supply chain pressure and price increases, the President states the nation must secure diversified foreign sources to protect domestic agriculture.
- Currently, United States production of phosphate fertilizer is insufficient to support domestic agricultural food production after accounting for exports. The Federal Government is working with the private sector to expand domestic fertilizer manufacturing capacity, but those efforts will take time to increase the supply materially. Immediate action is necessary and appropriate to ensure in the interim that United States farmers have access to a sufficient and timely supply of phosphate fertilizers during the planting and growing season, to ensure a stable domestic crop supply, and to meet our food production needs.
The document acknowledges that current domestic phosphate fertilizer production cannot meet total demand once exports are factored in.
While efforts are underway to boost domestic manufacturing, immediate interim measures are deemed necessary to ensure farmers receive sufficient fertilizer supply for the upcoming season to maintain food production.
- Producers in countries such as the Kingdom of Morocco can supply phosphate fertilizers to the United States without disruption at this time. It is imperative to immediately facilitate importation of phosphate fertilizers from the Kingdom of Morocco to mitigate the significant risk to the agricultural food production of the United States, to safeguard the economic and national security of the United States, and to ensure a stable domestic food supply.
The President identifies the Kingdom of Morocco as a capable supplier of phosphate fertilizers capable of providing aid without current disruption.
Immediate facilitation of imports from Morocco is deemed imperative to reduce risks to U.S. agriculture and secure both economic and national security through a stable domestic food supply.
- Section 318(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1318(a)) (section 318), authorizes the President to declare an emergency for a reason described in section 318(a) and to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Commerce, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, to permit, during the continuance of such emergency, the importation free of duty of food, clothing, and medical, surgical, and other supplies for use in emergency relief work.
This section cites the legal basis for the action: Section 318(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930.
This law grants the President authority to declare an emergency and allow the Secretaries of the Treasury and Commerce to permit the duty-free importation of necessary supplies, including food-related items, during the declared emergency period.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, including section 318 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, do hereby declare an emergency to exist with respect to the threats to the availability of sufficient supplies of fertilizers to meet expected agricultural demand. Pursuant to this declaration, I hereby direct as follows:
The President, invoking constitutional authority and specific statutes like Section 318 of the Tariff Act of 1930, formally declares an emergency concerning the threat to fertilizer supply availability needed for agriculture.
The following points detail the specific executive directives stemming from this declaration.
(1) To provide additional authority to the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Commerce to respond to the emergency declared in this proclamation, the authority under section 318 is invoked and made available, according to its terms, to the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Commerce. The Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Commerce shall, when appropriate, consult with each other before exercising the authority under section 318.
This directs that the emergency powers granted under Section 318 are officially invoked and made available to the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Commerce.
These two Secretaries are instructed to consult with each other before using the authority provided by Section 318.
(2) To provide relief from the emergency declared in this proclamation, the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Commerce, after consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall take appropriate action within their respective authorities under section 318 to permit until the earlier of 8 months after the date of this proclamation or the termination of the emergency declared in this proclamation, under such regulations and under such conditions as the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Commerce may use or prescribe, the importation, free of the collection of duties and deposits of estimated duties, if applicable, under sections 1671, 1675, and 1677j of title 19, United States Code, of phosphate fertilizers of the Kingdom of Morocco, and to temporarily extend during such 8-month period or the course of the emergency, as applicable, the time therein prescribed for the performance of any act related to such imports.
This is the core action: the Secretaries of the Treasury and Commerce, after consulting with the Secretary of Homeland Security, must facilitate duty-free importation of Moroccan phosphate fertilizers.
This exemption lasts up to eight months after the proclamation date or until the declared emergency ends, whichever comes first.
They are also authorized to temporarily adjust time limits related to import procedures.
(3) Pursuant to section 318, the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with any senior official they deem appropriate, shall monitor and review the status of circumstances related to the emergency declared in this proclamation. The Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Commerce shall also inform the President of any circumstance that, in their opinion, might indicate the need for further action by the President, including under section 318.
The Treasury and Commerce Secretaries are tasked with continuously monitoring the situation related to the emergency, consulting with other senior officials as needed.
They must report back to the President if circumstances arise that suggest additional executive action under Section 318 might be required.
(4) The Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary of Commerce, when appropriate, shall report to the Congress any action taken under the provisions of section 318.
When implementing the measures authorized under Section 318, the responsible Secretary must report these actions to the U.S. Congress as deemed appropriate.
(5) Any provision of previous proclamations and Executive Orders that is inconsistent with this proclamation is superseded to the extent of such inconsistency. If any provision of this proclamation or the application of any provision to any individual or circumstance is held to be invalid, the remainder of this proclamation and the application of its provisions to any other individuals or circumstances shall not be affected.
This clause ensures that this new Proclamation overrides any conflicting language in previous Executive Orders or Proclamations.
It also includes a standard severability clause, meaning if one part of the order is legally invalidated, the rest of the order remains in effect.
(6)(a) Nothing in this proclamation shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This proclamation shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This proclamation is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
Subsection (a) confirms that this order does not infringe upon the established legal authorities of other executive departments or the functions of the Office of Management and Budget concerning the budget legislative process.
Subsection (b) stipulates that implementation must follow existing law and be limited by available funds.
Subsection (c) is a non-entitlement clause stating that the proclamation does not create any personal legal rights or benefits enforceable against the government.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-ninth day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fiftieth.
DONALD J. TRUMP
This final part officially dates the Proclamation as June 29, 2026, marking the 250th year of U.S. Independence, and certifies the action with the signature of President Donald J. Trump.
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