EVART TOWNSHIP, Michigan — Ward Forquer, a second-generation fertilizer salesman, envisions a massive revival for his struggling industry in this rural swath of the state.
He thinks President Donald Trump and Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s backing of a new potash mine here can make it happen.
The project has gained a foothold amid Trump’s threats to slap tariffs on Canada, which provides about 88 percent of U.S. potash, a key ingredient in most agricultural fertilizers recently deemed a critical mineral. The mine, in Michigan Republican Rep. John Moolenaar’s district, has also nabbed a conditional $1.3 billion federal loan guarantee. Most potash has thus far enjoyed an exemption from Trump’s tariffs on Canadian products.
But there’s a catch.
