Dock workers load sacks of fertilizer onto a barge at the Shanghai port in June. China has recently banned exports of fertilizer to protect its domestic market. (Photo credit should read ZOU QING/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
Americans are learning the hard way that food security is a national security issue. A war in the Middle East, a shipping chokepoint thousands of miles away or a trade policy decision in Beijing can show up in the price of bread and other staples at the local grocery store.
As I wrote in a recent column, international conflicts are driving up food costs for American families. Now those market signals are being compounded for political gain. China, one of the world’s largest fertilizer producers, is actively exploiting the global fertilizer shortage to its advantage.
Fertilizer prices are rising because the global supply chain is under stress and disrupting the key ingredients needed to produce phosphate fertilizers. More than 30 percent of the global urea trade, about 20 percent of the ammonia and phosphate trade, and around half of the global seaborne sulfur trade move through the Strait of Hormuz, which has faced closure in recent months because of the conflict with Iran.
But scarcity alone doesn’t explain why Americans are paying more for food.
In March, China, one of the world’s largest fertilizer producers, restricted exports to protect its own domestic market, including bans on certain nitrogen-potassium blends and phosphate varieties. As much as three-quarters of China’s prior-year fertilizer exports were blocked, removing up to 40 million metric tons from the market and pushing international urea prices up 40 percent.
China has now announced an export ban on sulfuric acid, removing an important backstop supply resource for the fertilizer market. Sulfur is a critical input used in phosphate fertilizer, which all farmers everywhere use to grow their crops.
The United States produced 8.1 million metric tons of sulfur in 2025. But even with significant sulfur production here at home, American farmers must still pay more because prices are set by the global market. When Beijing pulls millions of tons of supply out of the market, the cost is borne by a farm in Iowa.
Policymakers should not allow China to weaponize America’s food security. Beijing is buying up raw materials to produce fertilizer and protecting its domestic fertilizer sector while restricting access to the finished products and chemical inputs that the rest of the world needs.
These actions are part of a larger trend in which China uses its state-subsidized economy to drive up global prices. China applied a similar playbook with rare earth minerals. China expanded rare earth export controls in 2025, adding new elements and extra scrutiny for semiconductor users. In June, China added several U.S. companies to its export control list.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission found that China has pursued a strategy of expanding global dependence on Chinese exports while reducing its own reliance on imports, and has shown readiness to weaponize supply-chain chokepoints when politically advantageous.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has warned for years that China’s state-led system represents a threat to U.S. industries.
The World Bank projects that its fertilizer price index will increase by over 30 percent this year due to higher input costs and supply disruptions. DAP prices are already rising as the cost of sulfur has doubled since January.
Washington should take steps to respond in kind against China’s unfair trade practices.
First, the United States should prohibit Chinese state-owned enterprises and their affiliates from purchasing U.S.-origin sulfur and sulfuric acid as long as Beijing restricts exports of fertilizer and sulfuric acid. The United States should not supply raw materials to a country that withholds finished products from the global market.
Second, sulfur, sulfuric acid and phosphate fertilizer should be designated as strategic food-security inputs. This requires improved federal export tracking, stronger domestic contracting and expedited permitting for fertilizer and mineral projects.
Third, the Trump administration should accelerate its push to expand domestic fertilizer production. USDA recently announced $500 million in funding to expand U.S. fertilizer production, and the administration has taken steps to increase phosphate fertilizer availability and strengthen fertilizer supply chains. Those are good first steps, but they should be paired with the expansion of long-term domestic capacity.
Finally, the United States should enforce fair competition against state-subsidized foreign competitors to prevent Beijing and other state-directed actors from manipulating markets and disadvantaging American producers and farmers.
If Washington permits China to purchase U.S. raw materials while Beijing restricts access to its fertilizers and chemical inputs, the United States risks increasing its own vulnerability. American farmers shouldn’t have to compete with the Chinese government for essential agricultural inputs.