Doug Ford said potash is a 'powerful tool' in Canada's trade negotiations, but Scott Moe said Saskatchewan would take a 'tremendous economic hit' if it were to be restricted
As the trade war between Canada and the U.S. continues to escalate, potash has emerged as a potential bargaining chip.
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Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the resource is “one of the most powerful tools” Canada has in negotiations while speaking at a press conference in Vaughan on Wednesday, adding that the U.S. agricultural sector would be “dead overnight” if Canada were to cut it off. “Everyone in the world wants our potash,” he said.
National Post spoke to Akaash Maharaj, a senior fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, who confirmed that potash has become “indispensable” to the American agriculture sector, which is “currently dependent on Canadian exports.”
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But the reality of whether Canada could restrict supply to the U.S. is complicated, and comes with consequences for both sides of the border.
Potash is a group of minerals and chemicals that contain potassium. Its main form, after deep-earth mining and milling, is potassium chloride (KCl), almost all of which is used as a fertilizer to improve crop root strength, disease resistance, water retention and yield by protecting and restoring soil fertility. This makes it essential to global food security.
Small amounts are sometimes used in other products like detergents, soaps, water softeners, snow and ice melters, and pharmaceutical products.
Canada is the world’s largest producer and exporter of potash, and the United States is the leading destination of its potash exports, with 53 per cent sent south of the border in 2024, according to Natural Resources Canada. The U.S. also gets a small amount of potash from domestic production and other countries, such as Israel and Russia.
Data from Trading Economics, which is based on the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade, shows that Canada exported $3.84B worth of fertilizer to the U.S. in 2025 out of a total of $408.99B in exports. Israel exported a much smaller amount of fertilizer to the U.S., valued at $271.60M, in 2025.
Meanwhile, the U.S. produces 0.5 per cent of the world’s potash, and imports more than 80 per cent of the potash it uses.
