Duties Sought on Imported Glyphosate

OMAHA (DTN) -- Farm groups that only days ago celebrated Bayer's U.S. Supreme Court victory over glyphosate labeling now are accusing the company of abandoning farmers after Monsanto asked federal trade officials to impose steep duties on glyphosate imports from China.

Monsanto, which is now owned by Bayer Crop Science and its subsidiary, Ruevon LLC, filed a petition with the International Trade Commission (ITC), alleging glyphosate from China is being sold in the U.S. below fair-market value. Monsanto asked the ITC to issue antidumping duties on Chinese glyphosate, ranging from 68.9% to 446.47%.

Bayer/Monsanto is the only U.S. manufacturer of glyphosate and produces roughly 60% of glyphosate sold in the U.S. Last year, when Bayer executives warned they could discontinue selling Roundup because of the non-Hodgkin's lymphoma lawsuits, Bayer reported glyphosate generated $2.4 billion in revenue in 2024.

Farm groups denounced the petition, pointing out glyphosate is one of the most heavily used herbicides in row-crop production.

Jed Bower, an Ohio farmer and president of the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), told DTN the goodwill built up over years of supporting glyphosate use and EPA science in court cases was apparently quickly forgotten by Bayer/Monsanto.

"We went to bat for them for so long in those court cases, supporting them and celebrated even last week with the Supreme Court," Bower said. "We were right there, hand-in-hand with them, making our case as farmers about how great the product has been for us over the decades and how vital it is to the American farmer to have access.

"And then they literally win the case and just completely blow us off in one of our worst crises in, well, definitely in my farming career."

In a statement, Monsanto said it filed for antidumping and countervailing duties "to address predatory trade practices and subsidized imports of glyphosate." The statement added, "The domestic glyphosate business as it stands today is not sustainable. This action is needed to support long-term U.S. production for American farmers."

Farm groups are now increasingly battling their own input suppliers in countervailing duty cases.

Monsanto's petition comes just one day after President Donald Trump issued a proclamation to suspend countervailing duties on Moroccan phosphate imports, which is a countervailing duty (CVD) dispute commodity groups have been fighting to reverse for five years. Farm groups pointed out major input suppliers are increasingly trying to restrict imports through antidumping and CVD cases. ASA noted a Texas A&M study projected the CVDs on phosphate cost farmers $6.9 billion over five years in higher fertilizer costs.

Corteva last year won countervailing duties against Chinese and Indian imports of 2,4-D as well. Those duties range from 5.29% to as high as 169.63%, depending on the company.

Bower said Corteva and Bayer have been good partners for farm organizations such as NCGA in several ways, but he added, "My job is to look out for the American corn farmer, not for shareholders of a big corporation to make sure they make plenty of money. I've lost money on my farm for four years. How many employees at those companies have not been paid for four years?"

Sam Kieffer, CEO of the National Association of Wheat Growers, noted that CVDs on phosphate cost wheat farmers $1 billion in additional, unnecessary costs. He added farmers need access to affordable crop-protection products, not new trade barriers.

"Tariffs on imported glyphosate will be felt by American farmers," Kieffer said. "Wheat growers are already facing stubbornly high input costs, weak commodity prices and continued market uncertainty. This announcement comes at a difficult time in a tough farm economy."

The federal government doesn't have current data on glyphosate use, but U.S. Geological Survey data in 2016 showed farmers used roughly 287 million pounds on about 315 million acres of crops.

Trump also issued an executive order in February invoking the Defense Production Act and calling on USDA to accelerate the domestic production of glyphosate. The order directed the secretary of agriculture to protect domestic suppliers from going out of business and shield those companies from regulations causing financial pressures. It's unclear what actions USDA has taken since then to increase the domestic production of glyphosate.

Now that a petition has been filed, the ITC will issue a determination in the next two months over whether an investigation should continue. It can take up to a year for the Commerce Department to determine whether subsidized imports of glyphosate were dumped onto the U.S. market.

Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com

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