The Trump administration announced the U.S. Department of Agricultureās (USDA) National Farm Security Action Plan to protect American farmland from foreign adversaries on Tuesday.
The National Farm Security Action Plan includes legislative and executive actions at the state and federal level to shield farmland from foreign adversaries, strengthen agriculture research and defend it from intellectual property theft, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said on Tuesday. China has purchased vast amounts of American farmland over the years, amounting to 338,000 acres in 2020, according to USDA data.
āAmerican agriculture is not just about feeding our families but about protecting our Nation and standing up to foreign adversaries who are buying our farmland, stealing our research, and creating dangerous vulnerabilities in the very systems that sustain us,ā Rollins said. āEvery family depends on what our farmers do ā¦ and that is exactly why it is under threat.
Rollins joined several cabinet members ā including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Attorney General Pam Bondi as well as a few members of Congress ā to announce the plan at a Washington, D.C., press conference.
The USDA and other agencies will look to block Chinese nationals from purchasing American farmland and end departmental āagreements going to people and entities in countries of concern or other foreign adversaries,ā Rollins toldreporters on Monday ahead of the press conference.
āToo much American land is owned by nationals of adversarial countries, and more than 265,000 acres in the United States are owned by Chinese nationals, much of which is located near American military bases,ā Rollins told reporters on Monday. Rollins pointed to a graph that illustrated Chinese farmland purchases surrounding American military bases on Tuesday.
Notably, the Department of Justice (DOJ) charged two Chinese nationals for smuggling a fungus classified as a bioweapon on June 3 that had the potential to devastate American crops, livestock and people. China has also stolen billions in intellectual property from the U.S., one White House report estimating that China stole between $180 billion and $540 billion in 2018.
One Chinese spy was caught stealing corn seeds in Iowa in 2016, a case that continues to put some Iowa farmers on edge.
Hegseth and Rollins argued that āfood security is national securityā throughout the Tuesday conference.
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