A shipment of 30,000 tonnes of potash from the Belarusian Potash Company is due to arrive at a New Orleans port by mid-October as President Donald Trump seeks to restore diplomatic relations with the Russian ally—and, amid trade tensions with Canada, muses about diversifying where the U.S. gets the key fertilizer ingredient. (Financial Times)

Talking point: The U.S. placed sanctions on Belarusian potash, one of the Eastern European country’s main exports, in 2021 after President Alexander Lukashenko’s violent crackdown on pro-democracy protests. The Trump administration began to lift sanctions last year in exchange for the release of political prisoners. In 2025, the U.S. sourced about 85 per cent of its potash from Canada, where it is mined in Saskatchewan. Last month, Trump said the U.S. was “working on a massive Deal” to buy potash from Belarus instead of Canada. He backtracked the next day, although said that Belarus wanted to sell it at a lower price. 

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