The president of the National Corn Growers Association says Bayer’s move to seek duties on Chinese glyphosate is frustrating for farmers.
Jed Bower tells Brownfield, “What they are wanting to do is have the government put a tariff on the generic products coming in from China, which in turn obviously will drastically increase the price of products coming in from overseas to the American farmer.”
Bayer and its subsidiary Monsanto filed a petition Tuesday with the International Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Commerce calling for anti-dumping and countervailing duties on imports of glyphosate.
In the petition, Bayer says glyphosate sales of less than fair market value have occurred from China into the U.S.
Bower says Bayer’s action was unexpected.
“To come out and say they want to put duties on a product that we use across the country in probably the worst farming crisis of my career, we just feel let down by somebody we thought was a real partner and a real friend of the industry.”
He says the petition could lead to a lengthy review process.
“We’re going to have hearings,” he said. “There will be a lot of written statements and will probably have to do some in-person testimonies.”
Bower adds Bayer’s move came one day after President Trump signed an executive order suspending countervailing duties on phosphate fertilizer imports.
