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Business/Financial

Trump Gives Ag Secretary DPA Authorities To Boost Domestic Supply Of Herbicide Material Important For Defense

By Cal Biesecker

Thursday, February 19th, 2026

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Trump Gives Ag Secretary DPA Authorities To Boost Domestic Supply Of Herbicide Material Important For Defense

President Donald Trump's official White House portrait. Photo: White House

President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued an executive order directing the Agriculture Department to use the Defense Production Act (DPA) to boost the domestic supply of a critical mineral used in herbicides and defense products. The directive says there is one U.S. producer of elemental phosphorous, which is used for smoke, illumination and incendiary devices, semiconductors in radar, solar cells, sensors, optoelectronics and lithium-ion batteries that are part of defense supply chains. Elemental phosphorous is also a precursor element used…

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