The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Controls this week agreed to provide a reprieve through April of next year on sanctions on potash fertilizers imported to the U.S. from Belarus.

 

“This is a win for the American farmer,” said Iowa farmer and National Corn Growers Association President Chris Edgington. “Farmers are having a very hard time securing fertilizers, so a positive development like this couldn’t come at a better time.”

 

NCGA and other groups initiated dialogue in November with the Treasury Department expressing concern that sanctions on potash were resulting in fertilizer shortages across the country.

 

As farmers have struggled to secure and pay for fertilizers and other inputs, NCGA has been sounding the alarm saying that tariffs and sanctions on imports only make a bad situation worse.

“The American farmer should not have to suffer for the trade practices of foreign governments or for disagreement between multi-national corporations,” Edgington said.  “Yet, that is exactly what happens when sanctions or tariffs are put in place. Farmers pay the price while others profit.”