Monsanto Withdraws Glyphosate Duties Petition

E&E News’ Grace Yarrow reported that, “Bayer is withdrawing its request that the Trump administration impose countervailing duties on glyphosate imports from China after backlash from the agriculture industry.”

“The parent company of pesticide giant Monsanto filed a petition last month with the Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration and the U.S. International Trade Commission, arguing that Chinese competitors benefit from unfair pricing that hurts U.S.-based glyphosate producers including its Ruveon subsidiary,” Yarrow reported.

Michigan Farm News’ Jon Adamy reported that, “the petitions requested duties be imposed ranging from 68.9% to 446.47%, depending on the level of dumping and subsidization to offset glyphosate imports below ‘normal value.’”

“The initial request faced swift blowback from agriculture industry representatives who said imposing the duties would hurt farmers who have already been hit hard by high production costs,” Yarrow reported. 

“‘Since filing our petitions, we have engaged directly with farmers and agricultural trade associations to hear their perspectives,’ Ruveon said in a statement Friday announcing the retraction of the petition,” Yarrow reported. “‘Today’s decision reflects our commitment to putting farmers first and meeting their evolving needs, especially during this challenging farm economy.’”

Ruveon to Maintain ‘Dynamic Pricing’

Progressive Farmer’s Todd Neeley reported that, “Ruveon said it intends to keep the cost of glyphosate-based products based on the cost of production and ‘in line with our most recent three-year average.’ The company said that is contingent on production and energy costs like the present day.”

“In a previous ‘open letter’ to producers, Ruveon acknowledged its status as the only domestic producer of glyphosate and claimed it was not raising the price of the herbicide based on filing the petitions,” Adamy reported. 

“‘As one might expect, the pricing commitments we outlined in our July 1 open letter ‘To our Customers and a Commitment to Growers’ were contingent upon the relief anticipated by action on the petition,’ Ruveon wrote July 17,” Adamy reported. “‘As a result of withdrawing them, we will continue with our current dynamic pricing approach, based on the price of generic glyphosate products in the market as we have done in the past.’”

Farm Groups Respond to Withdrawn Petition

“‘As we have highlighted multiple times in recent weeks and months, input costs are a top concern of growers and for good reason,’ said Jed Bower, president of the National Corn Growers Association and an Ohio farmer,” Neeley reported. “‘Actions like the ones Ruveon planned to take would have made an already bad situation even worse. Farmers are the ones who purchase and use these products and too often we have felt that we, the customer, are of little importance. We strongly encourage all input providers to consider the full impact of their actions on growers, who are essential to the companies’ bottom line.’”

‘Actions like the ones Ruveon planned to take would have made an already bad situation even worse. Farmers are the ones who purchase and use these products and too often we have felt that we, the customer, are of little importance. We strongly encourage all input providers to consider the full impact of their actions on growers, who are essential to the companies’ bottom line.’

“American Soybean Association President Scott Metzger said his group provided extensive feedback to Ruveon following the filing of the petitions and again this week during ASA’s Board of Directors meeting,” Adamy reported. 

“‘Ruveon’s decision reflects the value they place on farmer customers who rely on access to affordable crop protection tools to remain productive and globally competitive,’ Metzger wrote,” Adamy reported. “‘We appreciate Ruveon’s willingness to engage with growers and respond to their concerns, and ASA looks forward to continuing this important dialogue.’”

“National Association of Wheat Growers CEO Sam Kieffer called Ruveon’s welcome news and noted that it comes as America’s wheat growers are already facing extreme financial pressures,” Adamy reported. 

“‘We appreciate that Ruveon listened to farmers and made a course correction to pull back their request seeking trade barriers that would have likely increased farmers’ costs while wheat farmers are already facing the fourth straight year of losing money on every acre of wheat,’ Kieffer wrote in a statement,” Adamy reported. “‘Farmers, more than most people, understand good years and bad years; but we urge Ruveon to remember the sharp response they received from farmers in the last few weeks and refrain from extreme, upward price swings in the future. We don’t begrudge input providers for seeking a return on their investment, but we also expect fairness and transparency in the marketplace.’”

‘Farmers, more than most people, understand good years and bad years; but we urge Ruveon to remember the sharp response they received from farmers in the last few weeks and refrain from extreme, upward price swings in the future. We don’t begrudge input providers for seeking a return on their investment, but we also expect fairness and transparency in the marketplace.’