The House Ag Committee held a hearing Wednesday titled “The Danger China Poses to American Agriculture”. House Ag Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA), said in his opening statement “The People’s Republic of China, governed by the Chinese Communist Party, has gone out of its way to reduce its reliance on American agriculture, all the while aggressively pursuing tactics that threaten our nation’s ability to feed itself.”
China is America’s largest trading partner, accounting for $33.7 billion in US agricultural exports last fiscal year. Chairman Thompson said “In recent years, the US has seen record export values to China for soybeans, corn, beef, chicken meat, tree nuts, and sorghum, all of which are major contributors to the US domestic farm economy.” He added that since China imports almost as much food as the US exports to the whole world makes the conversation difficult, and underscores the importance of expanded market access and market diversity elsewhere.
Ranking Member of the House Ag Committee David Scott (D-GA) testified “My colleagues will often note that we are in an agricultural trade deficit, I’m here to tell you that alienating our trade partners will only deepen the deficit.”
Chairman Thompson also stated “the last few years have seen China steal U.S. intellectual property, hack critical cybersecurity and related infrastructure, weaponize agricultural trade, and acquire American farmland at an alarming rate. Each of these disrupt our national security, our rural communities, and our resiliency.”
In her testimony South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem said that “China is buying up our entire food supply chain, When America can’t feed itself and relies on another country to feed us, it becomes a national security issue. The country that feeds us controls us.” She added “The Chinese Communist Party is not our friend, not our partner and not our ally.”
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DTN, The Hagstrom Report, NAFB
