Limiting Foreign Involvement in U.S. Agriculture

There has been a heightened focus on stopping foreign purchases of American farmland, especially from China. The USDA has announced a series of measures that it has called the National Farm Security Action Plan.

Among the priorities of the new initiative:

• Transparency, enforcement, and penalties for foreign adversaries that own or control U.S. farmland.

• Prioritizing domestic or trusted international partners for the agricultural supply chain and considering supply chains as national security assets.

• Targeting abuse of food assistance programs by foreign actors, ending partnerships with hostile nations, and aiming to strengthen U.S. intellectual property protection.

• Expanding efforts to find and deter bio-threats to safeguard plant and animal health.

Foreign Ownership of U.S. Food Processing Plants

American Farmland Owner question: What about food production in the United States from companies owned by foreign countries like China?

There has been a lot of attention on Chinese ownership of U.S. farmland. Harrison Pittman, director of The National Agricultural Law Center at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, alerted American Farmland Owner of the increased scrutiny in 2023 based on what he was tracking.

“What we see going on right now,” Pittman said, “it’s a historically significant shift in this area.”

The shift was substantial in 2023 compared to the previous few years. “…it was 2021 and 2022…times three or four,” Pittman estimated of the additional attempts by government leaders to limit foreign purchases of American farmland.

RELATED: Watch what Harrison Pittman said about heightened attempts by state and federal politicians to limit farmland ownership by certain countries, especially China and North Korea. Pittman also noted that much of the foreign ownership in the United States of agricultural land is in the forestry industry (Canada, the Netherlands and Germany). There is also foreign investment with leases in the wind and solar industries.

Smithfield and JBS Plants in the United States

Two major food processing operations, Smithfield and JBS, in the United States are foreign owned. Smithfield is Chinese owned. China is likely the most discussed global threat by members of Congress and the Trump administration.

Brazil owns JBS. Federal leaders don’t make that country a political target in the same way that they focus on China. However, President Donald Trump just announced that he is planning to levy a 50% tariff on Brazilian imports.

The United States currently runs a trade surplus with Brazil, unlike many other countries.

President Trump Threatens 50% Higher Tariffs on Brazil

“I knew and dealt with former President Jair Bolsonaro, and respect him greatly,” Trump in his letter to Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. “The way that Brazil has treated former President Bolsonaro, a Highly Respected Leader throughout the World during his Term, including by the United States, is an international disgrace. This Trial should not be taking place. It is a Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY.”

Trump frequently calls criminal investigations into his past “witch hunts.” Bolsonaro is on trial in Brazil for trying to overturn the 2022 election. Trump tried numerous efforts to overturn the results of his own election defeat in 2020.

“Please understand that the 50% number is far less than what is needed to have the Level Playing Field we must have with your Country. And it is necessary to have this to rectify the grave injustices of the current regime,” Trump added in the letter.

Brazil’s president said in an interview that he first thought Trump’s letter was fake. “The Brazilian people must be respected. Brazilian justice must be respected. We are a great, sovereign country with historic tradition of diplomacy with all nations. Brazil will adopt the necessary measures to protect its people and its companies,” Lula said.

Lula is considering higher tariffs on U.S. goods.

U.S. exports to Brazil increased 11.3% in the final year of the Biden administration, increasing the overall trade surplus with Brazil 31.9% compared to 2023, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative.  

Kansas Senator Looking at Foreign Ownership of Food Processing Plants

U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, a Republican from Kansas, is focusing on companies like Smithfield and JBS. “To me the Chinese owning land is just a small, small piece of the puzzle,” Marshall said. “I’m much more concerned about the food supply down the road here, that right now foreign entities own about a fifth of the protein processing. Between beef and pork, JBS and Smithfield own about a fifth, maybe even a fourth of the protein processing in this entire country. That’s just wrong.”