Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced Thursday night that her agency terminated more than 70 contractors and visiting scientists who are citizens of “countries of concern” after conducting an investigation.
Foreign nationals have exploited the American agriculture industry by stealing intellectual property and technology, as well as smuggling hazardous biological materials that could cause serious damage to the food supply, Rollins wrote in her Thursday night X post. Rollins did not specify which countries the contractors were from and noted that there is no active threat, but the move aligns with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Farm Security Action Plan to crack down on malign influence from foreign adversaries in the farm industry, which was announced Tuesday.
“For decades, foreign adversaries have exploited our open society by recruiting spies and operatives who steal our intellectual property, technology, and, in recent cases, smuggle dangerous biological materials that would threaten to destroy our food and supply chains,” Rollins wrote. “After a thorough investigation, USDA has terminated 70+ contractors and visiting scientists who have citizenship from countries of concern.” (RELATED: Trump Admin Moves To Block China From Grabbing Up American Farmland)
The USDA has faced possible data breaches from foreign contractors before, as CNN reported on an investigation into a Russian contractor in June 2023. Notably, the Department of Justice (DOJ) charged two Chinese nationals smuggling a potential bioweapon on June 3 that could have devastated American people, livestock and farms.
Though the specific countries of concern the contractors and visiting scientists come from were not named in the announcement, the U.S. designated several nations in December 2023 to be “countries of particular concern.” These countries include China, Russia, Burma, Cuba, Saudi Arabia and Iran, among others.
The Trump USDA has made national security a key policy focus in recent weeks, with the agency unveiling its National Farm Security Action Plan on Tuesday. The plan includes seven areas of focus, many of which touch on potential threats to American agriculture from foreign adversaries.
Threats of bioterrorism, stolen intellectual property and foreign-owned farmland near military bases all raise major national security concerns, according to the USDA’s new security plan. Rollins said Tuesday that the initiative will combine legislative and executive actions at both the state and federal level to protect American farmland from foreign threats and strengthen agriculture research.
Notably, China has purchased large amounts of American farmland in recent years, including 338,000 acres in 2020, according to USDA data. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has also stolen billions in intellectual property from the U.S., with one 2018 White House report estimating that China stole between $180 billion and $540 billion in intellectual property that year.
The USDA did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
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