Despite a recent statement made by U.S. President Donald Trump that he plans on slowing U.S. imports of Canadian potash, those involved in the industry say they are not worried.
Trump said the U.S. is working with Belarus to purchase potash on Truth Social Monday. The U.S. president claimed the “pricing would be for substantially less than we are currently paying to Canada.”
He later walked back on that post at a meeting in New York Tuesday.
Regardless of where the president lands on the issue, Saskatchewanians said they aren’t concerned.
Potash sales in the province are up by approximately 21 per cent in its year to date for 2026, when compared to last year, according to Saskatchewan’s mineral sales.
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“Everyone needs (potash) if they want to grow food, so, I think it’s a commodity that is worth a lot to a lot of people,” Allan Mayor Jordan Hafichuk said. The town, approximately 60 kilometres southeast of Saskatoon, houses multiple potash mines.
Even with the U.S. threats, not much has changed in the town of Allan, according Hafichuk.
“A lot of our residents in Allan work at the mine, there is no two ways about it. But in terms of how they see the economic outlook, and anything like that, I don’t think it necessarily affects what we’re doing,” Hafichuk said, adding that “we’re looking so far beyond the U.S.”
“As a community, I think we’ll be just fine,” Hafichuk continued.
Devan Mescall, a professor at the University of Saskatchewan’s Edward School of Business, said Trump’s threats should not cause panic.
“Belarus may replace some of the Canadian potash in the U.S. market, but it can’t realistically replace Canada as a whole,” the professor said, pointing to the Belarusian president’s recent comments.
During a meeting, President Aleksandr Lukashenko told Vladimir Orlovsky, Belarus’ chairman of the state customs committee, that the country could not fulfill all of the United States’ potash needs for 2026, because this year’s output is already contracted.
“Potash is a global market. And so, it is a little bit like musical chairs. If some of our sales to the U.S. get replaced, if Belarus removes that from another customer, there will be a need, a demand in the market that we can replace,” Mescall told Global News in an interview.
Canadian potash producers would be more affected by Trump’s threat if a new supply was suddenly made available, he said.
Seventy-nine per cent of potash imported into the U.S. is Canadian, according to the U.S Geological Survey.
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