The owner of pesticide giant Monsanto is asking the Trump administration to impose duties on glyphosate imports from China, arguing that Chinese companies are benefiting from unfair pricing that hurts U.S.-based manufacturers.
Bayer filed a petition for countervailing duties with the Commerce Department and Court of International Trade on Tuesday, according to the filing obtained by POLITICO. “The information confirms that glyphosate from China is being sold, or offered for sale, in the United States at less than fair value,” Bayer said in the petition.
Glyphosate is the world’s most widely used herbicide, and Monsanto’s Roundup product has been at the center of thousands of legal challenges and a broader political debate amid the Make America Healthy Again movement’s push to crack down on the chemical. The Supreme Court handed Bayer a massive win last week by blocking a legal path for users of the glyphosate-based weedkiller to secure payouts from Bayer for failing to disclose the product’s cancer risk.
A ruling in favor of Bayer could make imported products more expensive and give the company a leg up against international competitors.
