Monrovia — Firestone Liberia, Liberia’s largest and oldest rubber plantation has refused to comply with newly regulated national rubber prices set by the Liberia National Rubber Pricing Committee (LNRPC). The company’s abrupt cessation of rubber purchases from smallholder farmers not only disrupts the fragile supply chain but also undermines efforts to create a transparent, fair, and regulated rubber market.
This decision is not only deeply controversial but also emblematic of the historical tensions between multinational corporations and national regulatory systems in post-war Liberia.
The LNRPC which is an inter-agency task force comprising the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Rubber Planters Association of Liberia (RPAL), and others — was established by President Joseph Nyuma Boakai in October 2024. Its purpose is clear: to end decades of price manipulation and exploitation that have left Liberian rubber farmers impoverished and voiceless in a market historically controlled by elite processors, primarily Firestone.
In May 2025, the Committee released a formula-based pricing structure derived from the Singapore Commodity Exchange (SICOM), ensuring a 10% profit margin for processors while securing a stable net price for farmers. For June, the net price stands at US$545.00 per ton, after statutory deductions. All buyers are legally mandated to comply.
Yet Firestone — a sitting member of the very Committee that approved this pricing resolution — has flatly refused to purchase rubber under these terms. In a circular, the company announced it would no longer buy cup lumps (the raw form of rubber tapped by farmers), effectively cutting off income for thousands of Liberians reliant on Firestone’s purchasing power.
Industry experts and farmers’ advocates see Firestone’s move as a calculated attempt to bully the state into ceding regulatory authority. “This is not just non-compliance,” said a representative from the Rubber Development Fund Incorporated (RDFI). “It is economic blackmail designed to reassert dominance over a sector that has finally started to prioritize the dignity and rights of smallholder farmers.”
According to RDFI, Firestone’s action is “a blatant attempt to violate government and partners’ regulations without fear.” Their move has sparked concerns about corporate impunity and raised pressing questions about Liberia’s sovereignty over its natural resources.
Despite the company’s exit from the market, RDFI maintains that the rubber sector is resilient. The agency cited an influx of new buyers eager to purchase at the government-mandated price, which could help buffer the blow to farmers. However, Firestone’s dominance in the sector — as both a buyer and processor — means that the repercussions of their withdrawal are likely to be deeply felt, especially in rural communities.
Firestone Liberia, a subsidiary of the Bridgestone Corporation of Japan, has operated in Liberia since 1926. Its original concession, signed under colonial-era conditions, granted the company sweeping control over 1 million acres of land at minimal cost. For nearly a century, Firestone dictated rubber prices to local producers and benefitted from tax holidays and favorable regulatory conditions — all while being accused of environmental degradation, labor violations, and economic exploitation.
Critics argue that Firestone has given back little in return. “The company should be ashamed,” said an RPAL spokesperson. “For decades, Firestone set prices unilaterally. Now that the government is finally establishing fairness, they walk away? It shows who they really are.”
The May 31st resolution from the LNRPC mandates that all buyers of rubber in Liberia must adhere to the posted prices or face prosecution. However, enforcement remains a looming challenge.
Civil society actors are now calling on the government to act decisively — not only to enforce compliance but also to protect smallholder farmers from the fallout. “What is at stake here is bigger than rubber,” said a policy analyst at the Center for Agricultural Equity. “It’s about whether Liberia can assert its regulatory authority over multinational corporations. If Firestone is allowed to defy this resolution, what stops other companies from doing the same?”
Moreover, there are renewed calls for President Boakai to issue an Executive Order placing a surcharge on unprocessed rubber exports — a move that would prevent buyers like Firestone from bypassing domestic regulations by shifting supply chains abroad.
In the midst of this power struggle, Liberia’s rubber farmers are paying the price. Many of them are rural dwellers with limited alternative income sources, already suffering from poor infrastructure and climate-related yield reductions.
For these farmers, the government’s move to regulate rubber prices represented a long-overdue act of economic justice. Now, with Firestone’s retreat, many fear a return to chaos and uncertainty.
“The price was finally fair,” said a farmer from Bong County. “We were finally able to feed our families. Now they [Firestone] just walk away?”
To prevent a total breakdown of the sector, the RDFI and RPAL must urgently expand market access by supporting other buyers, building cooperative warehouses, and investing in farm-to-market roads. Simultaneously, the government must send a clear message that regulatory defiance will not go unpunished — even by giants like Firestone.
The Firestone controversy has become a defining test of Liberia’s post-war economic independence. Will the country stand by its farmers and uphold its laws, or will it allow foreign corporations to continue writing the rules?
