Hawkeye Reporter

U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), along with Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Representative Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), and 65 other lawmakers, has called on U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum to add phosphate to the U.S. Critical Minerals List. The group sent a bipartisan, bicameral letter stating that this move would help reduce costs for farmers and protect food security in the United States.

According to the lawmakers, designating phosphate as a critical mineral would also encourage domestic production, strengthen supply chains, and decrease dependence on foreign sources such as China.

“Phosphate, like potash, is indispensable to global food production and U.S. agriculture. It has no substitutes in farming, and disruptions in supply have immediate and far-reaching consequences for American producers, food prices, and national security,” the lawmakers wrote. “Farmers across the country are already experiencing the impacts of market volatility and supply pressures tied to phosphate availability.”

The letter further stated: “Given phosphate’s central role in our economy and its clear vulnerability to supply disruptions, we strongly urge that it be immediately reexamined and added to the 2025 Critical Minerals List. You have the authority to make this designation, and doing so would reflect both the essentiality of phosphate in American food production and the systemic risks our farmers face from market disruptions created by the concentrated foreign supply.”

The lawmakers expressed appreciation for Secretary Burgum's inclusion of potash on the draft 2025 list after previous requests from Grassley and Ernst earlier this year.

Signatories of the letter include Senators John Boozman (R-Ark.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.). Representatives Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) and Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.) led support in the House.

Senator Grassley has previously worked on related issues by reintroducing legislation with Senator Tammy Baldwin requiring a USDA study into competition within fertilizer markets. He has also asked federal officials to investigate anti-competitive practices in fertilizer pricing during both current and past administrations.