An executive order signed at the White House on Feb. 18, 2026, directs the Secretary of Agriculture to use Defense Production Act authority to keep an adequate supply of elemental phosphorus and glyphosate-based herbicides. The order, published in the Federal Register on Feb. 23, 2026, as Executive Order 14387, does not name a deadline for those steps.
The order says elemental phosphorus is essential to military readiness and national defense. It lists uses in smoke, illumination and incendiary devices, in semiconductors for radar, solar cells, sensors and optoelectronics, and in lithium-ion battery chemistries tied to weapon systems. The order also says the Interior Department, acting under the Energy Act of 2020, designated phosphate a critical mineral on Nov. 7, 2025.
The same material is a precursor for glyphosate-based herbicides, which the order describes as widely used tools that help farmers produce food and livestock feed. The order states there is no direct chemical substitute and that limits on access could cut farm productivity, raise growers’ losses and add pressure on the food system.
The order finds domestic production of both inputs is extremely limited. It says only one U.S. producer makes elemental phosphorus and glyphosate-based herbicides, and that producer does not meet annual needs. For that reason, the order says, more than 6 million kilograms of elemental phosphorus are imported each year.
The order finds elemental phosphorus is a scarce material critical to national defense and security, and that thin domestic output leaves the country exposed to hostile foreign actors and to an imminent threat to military readiness. It also finds that domestic elemental phosphorus and glyphosate-based herbicides meet the criteria in the Defense Production Act of 1950 for priority treatment to promote the national defense.
The order delegates the President’s authority under that act to the agriculture secretary for these materials, notwithstanding a March 16, 2012, executive order on national defense resource preparedness. That authority covers requiring certain contracts or orders to take priority, and allocating materials, services and facilities. It does not cover employment contracts.
The agriculture secretary must use that authority, in consultation with the Secretary of War, to set nationwide priorities and allocations needed for a continued adequate supply. The secretary must issue orders and adopt or revise rules as necessary. In doing so, the secretary must treat domestic production as critical to the national defense and must not place the corporate viability of any domestic producer of these materials at risk.
The order extends the act’s immunity provisions to covered actions. It also says domestic producers of elemental phosphorus and glyphosate-based herbicides must comply, under existing agriculture regulations on priorities and allocations.
The order says it does not reduce authority already granted to agencies or the budget functions of the Office of Management and Budget. It is to be carried out consistent with applicable law and available appropriations. It states that it creates no enforceable right or benefit against the United States or its officers, and that the Department of Agriculture shall bear the costs of publishing the order.