The top Republican lawmaker is sounding the alarm after a Chinese agricultural company was approved to create “genetically modified soybeans” for consumption in the United States.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) suspiciously quick approval of Chinese biotech firm Qi Biodesign should set off alarm bells, says Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Select Committee Chairman John Moolenaar, R-Mich.
The company, which specializes in gene editing, is partially funded by the Chinese government, it said in a letter to President Biden’s U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com.
And the company poses a particular threat to the secrets of American agricultural companies, he says.
Their concern comes at a time of growing anxiety over China’s meddling in U.S. agricultural efforts, as the country owns more than 347,000 acres of farmland near sensitive military bases.
Chinese entities own farmland in 29 of the 50 U.S. states, totaling 347,000 acres.
“Make no mistake, Qi Biodesign and other similar PRC companies receive direct support from the PRC government for the explicit purpose of replicating and replacing American agricultural biotechnology,” Moolenaar writes to Vilsack.
The Michigan Republican’s warning to the secretary included a list of questions demanding clarity on U.S. agricultural companies’ relationships with their Chinese counterparts, details about Qi Biodesign’s approval process and the USDA’s trade agreements with the People’s Republic of China.
‘We write to express our alarm at the recent positive determination by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) on genetically modified soybeans from agricultural biotechnology company Qi Biodesign of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), which will allow future sales in the United States.’
“As you know, the PRC has consistently refused to honor its own commitments to facilitate regulatory approval of U.S. agricultural biotechnology, forcing some U.S. agricultural biotechnology companies to wait years for PRC government approval,” the letter states.
The president also says the USDA allowed PRF to “jump to the front of the queue” in the approval process while “American businesses continue to face significant delays.”
‘The USDA appears to have facilitated the review of Qi Biodesign’s regulatory status in a matter of weeks, raising questions about the level of due diligence and the motivation behind the expedited review.’
‘Therefore, we request that you immediately review the regulatory status of Qi Biodesign.’
“Furthermore, the PRC’s well-documented theft of U.S. intellectual property has repeatedly extended to the theft of U.S. agricultural technology, through cyberattacks, and the outright theft of physical seeds,” Moolenaar writes.
In addition to the president, five other members signed the letter.
Reps. Neal Dunn, R-Fla., Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., and Ben Cline, R-Va., also signed the letter.
Chinese company Qi Biodesign received USDA approval to sell its “genetically modified soybeans” in a matter of weeks, sparking concern among Republican lawmakers.
China’s seizure of U.S. farmland, much of it near sensitive military installations, has come under increased scrutiny.
Congress has recently implemented several restrictions in the yet-to-be-passed 2024 Farm Bill to restrict the People’s Republic of China’s ability to purchase U.S. land.
The upcoming House farm bill will contain measures to restrict foreign entities like China from taking over US farmland, marking a major victory for national security, a Republican who helped secure the provisions previously told DailyMail.com.
Foreign entities own a total of 40 million acres of U.S. farmland, and China has purchased nearly 347,000 acres, according to the USDA.
Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, amended the legislation to include provisions that would make it easier to track purchases of U.S. farmland by foreign entities.
“Communist China should not be allowed to buy another acre of American farmland, nor should we be dependent on our main foreign adversary for key parts of our food supply chain,” Hinson told DailyMail.com in late May.
Chinese companies own 346,915 acres of US farmland as of December 2022
A combine harvests, threshes and cleans soybeans in Waynesfield, Ohio.
And Chinese leaders see dominance of the agricultural market as a way to gain a strategic advantage over the United States, lawmakers say.
“Qi Biodesign and other similar companies play a key role in General Secretary Xi Jinping’s desire to achieve self-sufficiency in agricultural technology at the clear expense of American farmers and companies,” Moolenaar said in his letter.
‘Since the Chinese Communist Party sees a direct link between agriculture and national security, the USDA should be vigilant in protecting American farmers from exploitation by the People’s Republic of China.’
The Republican requested a response from the USDA by August 1.