Belarus holds nearly 21% of the world's potash reserves, second only to Canada, according to data from Statista. | Photo by Belaruskali
December 18, 2025
After more than four years of sanctions, the U.S. is allowing American companies to once again purchase potash from Belarus, which produced around 20% of the world's potash before the sanctions were put in place.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control announced Monday that it was authorizing transactions involving Belarus' state-run potash company and two other potash manufacturers in the country.
The move comes after Belarus agreed to release more than 120 prisoners following a series of talks with U.S. officials.
Removing U.S. sanctions will "make it significantly easier to trade in Belarusian potash for companies around the world," according to a report from Argus Media Group, an independent provider of global energy and commodity market intelligence.
While the European Union has not removed its sanctions on Belarusian potash trade, Argus noted that Belarus has still exported significant quantities of potash in recent years, due to "creative paperwork and lax enforcement of the sanctions."
The announcement caught markets by surprise, according to Argus, and there has been little price movement following the announcement.
"It will take some time for US-Belarus trade to resume as administrative and financial processes still need to be put in place," the report stated, adding that U.S. potash buyers may need to be incentivized to buy potash from Belarus instead of Canada.
Trump raises tariff threat on Canadian fertilizer
While potash was recently added to the U.S. "Critical Minerals" list and a pending project from the Michigan Potash and Salt Co. aims to increase domestic production, the U.S. currently imports 95% of its potash - with nearly 90% of that coming from Canada.
READ NEXT: PHOSPHATE, POTASH EARN 'CRITICAL MINERAL' STATUS IN WIN FOR DOMESTIC PRODUCTION HOPES
During a Dec. 9 roundtable, President Donald J. Trump threatened new tariffs on Canadian fertilizer - in response to a reporter's question about prices and bolstering domestic production.
"A lot of it does come in from Canada," Trump said. "And so, we'll end up putting very severe tariffs on that if we have to, because that's the way you want to bolster here, and we can do it here. What you do is you put very severe tariffs on from coming into other countries, and you'll be making your own fertilizer."
