US Hits Record Russian Fertilizer Imports While Taxing All Other Suppliers

The United States is setting consecutive records for fertilizer purchases from Russia in 2026, even as Washington maintains broad sanctions on Moscow over the war in Ukraine. In March 2026, the US imported $243.9 million worth of Russian fertilizers in a single month - the highest figure ever recorded in the history of bilateral trade between the two countries. For the full first quarter of 2026, total purchases reached $564 million, up 37% compared to the same period in 2025. The trend shows no sign of slowing.

This acceleration builds on an already record-breaking 2025. US imports of Russian fertilizers totaled $1.8 billion for the full year 2025 according to UN COMTRADE data, up from $1.3 billion in 2024. In the first half of 2025 alone, US Census Bureau data showed $927 million in purchases. Nitrogenous fertilizers led the surge, with imports growing 87% year-on-year in January-June 2025. Russia became the single largest supplier of nitrogen fertilizers to the US market, capturing roughly 35% of urea imports by August 2025, ahead of Qatar at 19% and Algeria at approximately 10%.

A key driver of the 2026 acceleration is the conflict in Iran and the disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. With Middle Eastern fertilizer suppliers - Saudi Arabia and Qatar in particular - facing logistical constraints and higher shipping costs, US buyers have turned increasingly to Russian product for both price and availability reasons. The Middle East had historically supplied a large share of US urea imports, with Saudi Arabia alone accounting for up to 39% of US urea nitrogen imports at its peak. That supply line is now under pressure.

The policy framework reinforcing this dependency was set in 2025. The Trump administration's April 2025 tariff decrees exempted Russian goods entirely, citing existing sanctions as sufficient. A July 31, 2025 executive decree then applied tariffs of 10% on fertilizers from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, 15% from Nigeria, Israel, and Trinidad, and higher rates on other suppliers - while Russia remained at zero. The result is a structural price advantage for Russian fertilizer in the US market, with competitors paying tariffs that Russian exporters do not.

This exemption did not begin with the Trump administration. When the Biden administration sanctioned Russia following the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, it deliberately excluded fertilizers and specialty metals. Congress revoked Russia's Most Favored Nation trade status, but the 1930 Smoot-Hawley tariff rates applicable to Russia happened to be zero for fertilizers and natural resource inputs. The loophole has been in place for years and was never closed.

The agricultural dependency is structural. The US imports just over 2 million tons of UAN (urea ammonium nitrate) per year, used widely on corn, wheat, and rice. About 1 million tons of that volume comes from Russia annually. Industry analysts at StoneX have described a potential sanctions ban as potentially devastating for US farmers, who are already managing higher input costs from the broader trade war and inflation. No domestic production capacity exists to replace Russian volumes in the short term.

Former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul publicly called the situation shameful in May 2026, reacting to the Q1 record figures. The contradiction is notable: Washington has pressed European allies to reduce purchases of Russian energy, yet US imports of Russian fertilizers are growing faster than most comparable European commodity flows from Russia, and arrive entirely duty-free while equivalent goods from allies are taxed.

As of May 2026, no measures to restrict or sanction Russian fertilizer imports have been announced by the US administration.