A tractor fertilizing a wheat field at dusk, circa March 2024. China’s export restrictions on sulfur have raised fertilizer prices, even as the market already faces a shortage. (Shutterstock/oticki)

How to Counter China’s Weaponization of US Food Security

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China’s recent export restrictions underscore the need for higher US sulfur production.

As the conflict with Iran enters its sixth month, policymakers can no longer afford to ignore the growing threat to America’s food security. Access to sulfur, a critical component of fertilizers, is in crisis. Sulfur is a byproduct of oil and gas production, and the virtual standstill in marine traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has taken 50 percent of the world’s traded sulfur off the market.

Concurrently, China has decided to restrict exports of sulfuric acid (a substitute for sulfur in manufacturing fertilizers), resulting in nearly a twofold increase in the market price. American farmers are already concerned about high fertilizer prices and short supplies impacting the 2027 growing season, and many are putting off ordering supplies, in hopes that prices will come down soon. The problem is that unless America’s leaders act to curb China’s market distortions, prices are more likely to rise than fall before the next planting season.

Banning the export of sulfuric acid is not all China is doing to raise fertilizer prices worldwide. While China’s protectionist policies have secured its own fertilizer supply, its state-owned companies, such as Yuntianhua Group, are also buying up international supplies, including significant amounts of US-produced sulfur. The United States produces about 65 percent of the sulfur and sulfuric acid it needs domestically and sources the remainder from Canada and Mexico. Still, the United........

© The National Interest