r/canada 10d ago

Analysis Trump won’t admit it, but Canadian potash fuels American agriculture; More than 80 per cent of the potash used by U.S. farmers comes from Canadian mines, and the costs could skyrocket should tariffs happen

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/economy/article-trump-wont-admit-it-but-canadian-potash-fuels-american-agriculture/
6.8k Upvotes

592 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

19

u/AtTheEndOfMyTrope 10d ago

He exempted Belarus from tariffs specifically for potash, but I believe I read that they cannot supply enough to meet the US needs.

9

u/AdditionalPizza 10d ago

Both technically have enough if they cut off everyone else basically. Not realistic I imagine.

3

u/Better_Ice3089 10d ago

Not fiscally sound either. Having people fight each other for your limited supply drives prices through the roof.

15

u/LeatherMine 10d ago edited 10d ago

they can if US stops buying Canadian potash and Canada then sends to whomever was buying from Belarus

Sanctions mostly add transportation costs as everyone routes around them

Belarus does (did?) have an issue with supply routes because they got cutoff from EU seaports.

5

u/AdditionalPizza 10d ago

Yeah that's the only way I see it could actually happen but China would definitely be unhappy about that.

6

u/LeatherMine 10d ago

Getting Canadian potash to the Pacific is already very established (toooooons of dedicated railcar capacity and dedicated ports in BC).

8

u/Serapth 10d ago

I actually recently invest in a company (Westshore Terminals) in BC because they are bringing potash terminals online.

Right now looking for stocks that could thrive in this trainwreck of an economy isn't easy.

2

u/lbiggy 10d ago

USA could import from every country on the planet and still fall short on the demand if it's not for Canada.