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Trump said Canada has nothing the U.S. needs. When it comes to potash, the president couldn’t be more wrong
In Saskatchewan, 1,000 metres below the surface of the earth, in a cavern heated to a sweltering 27 C by geothermal energy, a machine is boring into the ground, searching for a compound that is critical to worldwide food production and crucial in Canada’s current trade battle with the United States. Launched just a few weeks ago, this boring machine is hooked up to a fibre-optic connection, and operated from a climate-controlled office on the surface.
This single tunnel, called a face, was sunk at a cost of $30-million. And it is just one in a network spread across six mines owned and operated by Nutrien Ltd. , Canada’s largest mining company and a major supplier of agricultural inputs worldwide. However, the company jewel – and a source of US$3-billion in net sales last year – was a single nutrient: potash.
Potash is often a coral-pink collection of minerals, the most important of which is potassium – a key element for plant life and global food systems. Since taking office in January, however, U.S. President Donald Trump has continuously threatened to levy a 25-per-cent tariff on Canadian goods and services. The U.S. needs nothing from Canada, he says. But the U.S. needs Canadian potash.
For the rest of this article: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/economy/article-trump-wont-admit-it-but-canadian-potash-fuels-american-agriculture/