Trump designates phosphorus, herbicide glyphosate as national security priorities

BERLIN

US President Donald Trump has invoked the Defense Production Act to classify elemental phosphorus and glyphosate-based herbicides as strategic priorities for national security.

The executive order aims to protect the domestic supply of these materials to ensure military preparedness and agricultural sustainability, according to a White House statement.

Trump invoked the Cold War-era remnant act because both materials currently rely on only one domestic producer, and national demand is far over production capacity.

“I find that ensuring robust domestic elemental phosphorus mining and United States-based production of glyphosate-based herbicides is central to American economic and national security,” said Trump in the executive order. “Without immediate Federal action, the United States remains inadequately equipped and vulnerable.”

The president’s decision transfers his powers under the act to the US Agriculture Department and grants the agriculture secretary full authority over contract prioritization, resource allocation, and production plant management.

Elemental phosphorus is vital for smoke bombs, illumination munitions, and incendiary weapons. It’s also used in semiconductors in radar systems, solar panels, sensors, and lithium-ion batteries.

Phosphorus serves as the main precursor to glyphosate-based herbicides, the most widely used plant protection agents in US agriculture, resulting in high-yield crop and animal feed production.

Glyphosate, however, has also been accused of links to cancer, and has also been vilified by the Make America Healthy Again movement, spearheaded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the US health secretary. Since last year Kennedy has softened his position.

Helps Bayer's cases in court

The federal classification throws a lifeline to German pharmaceutical giant Bayer amid its ongoing legal battels.

Bayer is facing around 65,000 lawsuits in the US over allegations that its glyphosate-based weedkiller Roundup causes cancer.

Bayer is planning to use Trump’s decision as a shield against state-level claims, German media reported.

The firm will argue the principle of federal preemption, as federal regulations override state laws.

Bayer could leverage this direct governmental national security order to attain significant immunity amid its legal battles against billions of dollars in compensation claims.

The firm now has space to defend glyphosate in court not just as a commercial product but a fundamental requirement for US independence and food security, thanks to Trump’s executive order.

These developments follow Bayer’s recent announcement that it had agreed to pay a comprehensive $7.25 billion to settle cancer lawsuits to end the Roundup litigation.

Bayer increased its total provisions to €11.8 billion ($13.8 billion), $11.3 billion of which will be used for glyphosate cases, while the firm expects paying out around $5.9 billion to claimants this year alone.

*Writing by Emir Yildirim in Istanbul