The United States relaxes some sanctions against Venezuela and allows it to sell fertilizers and petrochemical products to American companies to relieve price pressure.

The US government is further relaxing some sanctions on Venezuela, allowing the country to sell fertilizers and other petrochemical products to US companies. This move comes as tensions escalate in the Middle East and global key agricultural nutrient supplies tighten, aiming to alleviate the pressure faced by US agriculture and food prices. According to documents disclosed by the US Treasury Department on Friday, this new measure will allow US companies to purchase fertilizers and related petrochemical products from Venezuela, as part of Washington's gradual push for the South American country to reintegrate into the global energy market. The White House hopes to stimulate the Venezuelan economy through expanding economic cooperation, after the US military arrested the country's president, Maduro, in January this year. This policy adjustment also comes as US farmers intensify their purchases of fertilizers during the spring planting season, especially ammonia and urea, key agricultural inputs. With tensions escalating in the Middle East, the supply of fertilizers and petrochemical products transported through the Strait of Hormuz has been impacted. Data shows that since the outbreak of the Iran war, urea prices in the US New Orleans market have risen by about 28%. At the same time, over one-third of US urea imports depend on the Middle East region, further increasing supply risks. By allowing US companies to purchase Venezuelan fertilizers, the Trump administration is sending signals to the agriculture and energy markets regarding increased supply. Analysts point out that this measure not only helps stabilize agricultural production costs, but may also alleviate rising food prices amidst inflationary pressures driven by rising oil prices. In addition to the fertilizer policy, the US Treasury Department has also issued another license allowing companies to participate in the construction of Venezuela's power grid. This is seen as an important step in restoring the country's energy infrastructure, which can help drive the recovery of the oil industry and other industries, while improving the livelihoods of the population affected by long-term power outages. Specifically, by expanding the definition of "Venezuelan-origin petroleum" in existing licenses, the Treasury Department includes fertilizers and some petrochemical products in the scope of transactions. Similar to Venezuelan oil sales under US control, US buyers need to deposit funds into frozen overseas accounts, which will then be allocated to the Venezuelan central bank from that account. Venezuela once established a large petrochemical industry based on its abundant natural gas resources, with the state-owned company Pequiven producing fertilizers and other chemical products in the Jose Industrial Complex and the Morn and El Tablazo bases. The US was once an important export market for Venezuela. However, years of mismanagement and underinvestment have led to the decline of this industry, similar to the oil industry. Currently, Pequiven still exports small amounts of nitrogen fertilizer products to Brazil and Colombia, but typically at discounted prices through opaque channels. Data shows that by 2025, Venezuela exports about 400,000 tons of urea to Brazil, and small amounts to Colombia and Chile. However, this scale is much lower than the country's designed production capacity, around 2.7 million tons of ammonia and 3.3 million tons of urea. Most of this production capacity is concentrated in the Jose Industrial Complex known as Fertinitro. Analysts believe that if Venezuela's fertilizer industry is restored, the US government may redirect more supply to the US market to partially offset the supply gap caused by conflicts in the Middle East. This could also help reduce US reliance on fertilizer from Russia. Although fertilizers and petrochemical products themselves are not directly targeted by US sanctions, the comprehensive sanctions against Venezuela's energy industry have effectively restricted the development of related industries.