By Matt Scholz, Sustainable Phosphorus Alliance
According to the American Presidency Project, American presidents have written or spoken the words “phosphorus” or “phosphates” fewer than 90 times in the past ~125 years. 42 of those instances are attributed to our current president.
On July 5, the Administration authorized the temporary lifting of countervailing duties on the importation of phosphate fertilizers from Morocco through an emergency declaration. The stated aim of the declaration is “to ensure 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.” This comes on the heels of a spike in fertilizer prices owing to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Here is a brief recap of the flurry of other actions that the current administration has enacted that either directly or indirectly address phosphorus/phosphate supplies:
Critical Minerals Designation
At the end of 2025, the US Department of the Interior announced that phosphates had been added to the list of (now) 60 critical minerals that are deemed vital to US economic and national security interests. The primary effect of the designation is to streamline the federal permitting process for domestic mining operations.
Executive Order 14387
This executive order aims to shore up domestic supplies of elemental phosphorus and glyphosate by invoking the Defense Production Act. Under the order, the Secretary of Agriculture can, in consultation with the Pentagon, develop federal contracts for these materials with private companies that supersede any extant contracts those companies hold. It also provides some legal immunity to glyphosate producers. The US has one producer of elemental phosphorus (Bayer in Idaho). Elemental phosphorus is a precursor to the production of glyphosate as well as other products, including munitions. Major imports of elemental phosphorus come from Kazakhstan. It’s unclear (to us) what material impacts this order will yield.
Executive Order 14241
While not specifically focused on phosphates, this order complements the critical minerals designation by expediting the mine permitting process and provides greater access to mining on federal lands. It also authorizes the US Export-Import Bank to implement financial policies aimed at buttressing critical mineral supply chains.
Executive Order 14285
This order aims to accelerate the permitting process for deep-sea mining and seabed mineral extraction operations. It also calls for various feasibility studies and for the identification of financial mechanisms for supporting off-shore mining activities. In fact, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has started the process for opening a lease sale for the development of a deposit off the coast of Virginia that contains phosphorites, among other minerals. It remains unclear whether such an operation would be profitable from a phosphorus standpoint, at least. While there are examples of shallow-water ocean mining of various materials around the world, we are unaware of any instance of commercial mining of the deep-sea, in part because of environmental concerns surrounding disruption of aquatic habitats.
We’ll be keeping an eye on the consequences of each of these actions and discussing these developments at our next Phosphorus Forum event.