Commerce Keeps 20% Duty on Moroccan Phosphate
Importers of Moroccan phosphate fertilizer face a recommended 20.04% duty pending a May 2027 ITC vote.
Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in International Trade
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The U.S. Department of Commerce recommended keeping countervailing duties on phosphate fertilizer imports from Morocco after finding a 20.04% government subsidy to state-owned OCP's production. The recommendation affects importers of Moroccan DAP, MAP and TSP fertilizer, and the International Trade Commission makes the final call.
Why it matters
Commerce upheld its July preliminary finding in its sunset review, keeping a duty tied to a subsidy it measured at 20.04%. The decision sits against a June suspension of certain Moroccan duties, which President Trump justified by citing a supply emergency for U.S. farmers, so the policy direction for these imports remains unsettled.
Commerce set the Moroccan subsidy at 20.04% and recommended a matching import duty, while the June suspension ran for eight months or until the order ended. The ITC's five-year review for Morocco and Russia is still pending.
The players
U.S. Department of Commerce
The federal agency that calculates countervailing duty rates and enforces trade remedies that shape the cost of imported goods for U.S. businesses.
U.S. International Trade Commission
The independent federal agency that decides whether domestic industries are injured by subsidized imports, determining whether duties stay in force.
OCP
Morocco's state-owned phosphate producer, a major global supplier of phosphate fertilizers whose subsidy drove this review.
Donald Trump
The current President of the United States, who temporarily suspended certain Moroccan phosphate duties in June.
The details
Countervailing duties offset subsidies that foreign governments give exporters, raising the price of subsidized imports to the level of unsubsidized competition. Commerce found the Moroccan government subsidizes OCP's phosphate output by 20.04% and recommended the duty stay in place. The International Trade Commission then determines whether removing the duty would cause material injury to U.S. producers; if it finds injury is unlikely, the duties would be revoked.
Timeline
July 2026: Commerce issued its preliminary recommendation maintaining the duties.
June 2026: President Trump temporarily suspended duties on certain Moroccan phosphate fertilizer imports.
June 2026: Commerce released its final countervailing duty recommendation for Russian phosphate fertilizer.
May 5, 2027: The ITC is scheduled to vote on the issue.
May 26, 2027: The ITC case determination date.
Market Landscape
Phosphate fertilizer trade with Morocco and Russia is governed by five-year sunset reviews under U.S. countervailing duty law, which periodically test whether subsidized imports still threaten domestic producers. The June suspension of Moroccan duties represents a departure from that routine cycle, shifting a trade-remedy decision into a politically driven one.
Importers and distributors of Moroccan and Russian phosphate fertilizer should model the possibility of duties remaining in force or being revoked, depending on the ITC's injury finding. Procurement teams should track the eight-month suspension window and the May 2027 ITC dates when planning supplier contracts.
The takeaway
Track the ITC's May 5, 2027 vote closely, since its injury determination decides whether the Moroccan phosphate duties survive. Importers should review supplier contracts now and consider how a revocation or continuation would affect fertilizer costs.
What happens next
The ITC is scheduled to vote on the phosphate duty issue on May 5, 2027, with a case determination date of May 26, 2027.
Further reading
For background on how these duties fit into broader tariff policy, see International Trade coverage on U.S. import rules.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Argusmedia.
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