Foreign-owned companies are buying control of nation’s agricultural policy, undermining states’ rights and principles of federalism
WASHINGTON (March 20, 2024)—Today, the House Agriculture Committee held a hearing to discuss the risks and dangers of China’s increasing dominance over the U.S. agriculture industry.
“Foreign-owned and foreign backed producers are buying our nation’s farmlands and making investments in the U.S. agriculture industry at an alarming rate, and have assertively lobbied for legislation, like the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act, that would directly undermine the interests of American farmers and the American public. The United States should not cede control over its agricultural lands, policies and practices to multinational corporations from China, Brazil or any other nation. Whether that involves land and company acquisition or legislation that endangers the rights of our states to regulate the production and sale of agricultural products within their own borders, our food security and national security are aligned,” said Sara Amundson, president of the Humane Society Legislative Fund. “This is a Trojan Horse scenario, as the same interests pursue unrestricted land acquisition in our heartland and the dangerous EATS Act, which directly undermines our bedrock principles of sovereignty and federalism. We strongly urge House Agriculture Committee members on both sides of the aisle to stand up for Americans and America’s independent family farmers and reject the inclusion of the EATS Act, or any related legislation, in the next Farm Bill.”
Pork lobbyists, led by foreign-owned producers, have pushed Congress to incorporate into the next Farm Bill the EATS Act (H.R. 4417 and S. 2019) or related legislation to invalidate California’s Proposition 12 and many other laws regulating sales of products within individual states, stirring strong controversy. A China Weekly report touts the benefits of the EATS Act for large multinational corporations and how it could "greatly increase China's share of the U.S. pork market," enhancing the country's ability to out-compete smaller American farms.
A diverse set of more than 4,700 entities have publicly stated opposition to the EATS Act, including bipartisan Members of Congress (30 Senators and 193 Representatives), and nearly 3,500 farms across the country.
Media contact:
Kate Sarna: 202-836-1265; katesarna@hslf.org
