The Trump administration announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (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.
“American 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,” Rollins said. “Every family depends on what our farmers do … and that is exactly why it [American agriculture] is under threat. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: China’s Military Could Be Reaping The Benefits Of Takeover Of US Ag Giant)
Rollins joined several cabinet members — including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Attorney General Pam Bondi as well as a few members of Congress — 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 “agreements going to people and entities in countries of concern or other foreign adversaries,” Rollins told reporters on Monday ahead of the press conference.
“Too 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,” 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 “food security is national security” throughout the Tuesday conference.
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