Bipartisan Lawmakers Introduce Legislation to Protect US Agriculture Supply Chain From China

The legislation would empower the secretary of agriculture to closely monitor vulnerabilities in the U.S. food and agriculture supply chains.

Then-Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts in his office in the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln on June 24, 2021. Petr Svab/The Epoch Times

A bipartisan and bicameral group of lawmakers on March 11 introduced legislation to secure the U.S. food and agriculture supply chains from threats posed by the Chinese communist regime.

The legislation, called the Securing American Agriculture Act, was led by Sens. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) and Reps. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), according to a statement.

“Communist China’s strategic control over crucial sectors of our food and agricultural supply chains poses a serious national security threat,” Ricketts said in a statement. “Losing access to key inputs could reduce productivity, increase food prices, and undermine food security.”

Ricketts added the legislation would “bolster and protect these supply chains and reduce [U.S.] reliance on foreign adversaries.”

Under the proposed law, the Department of Agriculture is required to conduct an annual assessment of U.S. critical food and agricultural supply chains, particularly their dependency on China. The annual report would include these supply chains’ current domestic production and potential bottlenecks that they may encounter.

Additionally, the report would include recommendations from the secretary of agriculture on how to mitigate potential Chinese threats to these supply chains and offer legislative and regulatory actions to reduce barriers to increase their domestic production.

The bill offers a list of agricultural products considered critical to the United States: agricultural machinery, fertilizers, components used in feed, including vitamins and amino acids, crop protection chemicals, and seeds, among others.

The annual report would be submitted to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and the House Committee on Agriculture.

“Food security is national security—and we need to treat threats to our food supply chain just like any other security risk,” Slotkin said in a statement. “Bottom line: We need to make sure America’s agriculture supply chain is secure and stays right here at home.”

The Senate version of the legislation (S.912) is cosponsored by Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Jim Risch (R-Ind.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), and Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.).

“China has intentionally captured a significant market share of America’s agricultural inputs—which is vital to our food supply chain—ceding leverage to our top adversary,” Hinson said in a statement.

“Iowa farmers have told me firsthand that if China decides to shut off U.S. access to these critical inputs, our food production would be in jeopardy.”

Cosponsors of the House bill (H.1995) include Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), who is chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, Rep. Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii), Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), Rep. Ben Cline (R-Va.), and Rep. Andre Carson (D-Ind.).

The American Feed Industry Association (AFIA), a Virginia-based trade group, issued a statement voicing support for the legislation.

“We share many lawmakers and the Trump administration’s concerns over curbing China’s influence on America’s food supply,” Constance Cullman, AFIA president and CEO, said in a statement.

“By supporting the Securing American Agriculture Act, we can give federal decision-makers a clearer shot at guarding the United States from potentially catastrophic animal welfare, food or animal food security or economic consequences.”

Nearly 78 percent of U.S. vitamin imports came from China as of October 2024, given Chinese production dominance in key vitamins such as B1, B3, B7, B12, D3, and K, according to an AFIA paper.

China also played a significant role in the global amino acid market at that time, contributing to more than 62 percent of the worldwide production, according to the paper. Notably, it produced 77 percent of lysine, 91 percent of threonine, 84 percent of valine, and 27 percent of methionine.

A 2021 study from the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater warned that China’s continued dominance in the amino acid market could destroy 30,000 jobs in the United States and reduce domestic economic activity by $15 billion annually.

Ricketts and Hinson each introduced a similar bill on the issue in the previous Congress, but neither bill made it to final passage.