policies that discriminate against anybody. in that spirit, let's be careful not to adopt or encourage those types of policies. chairman thompson, ranking member scott, thank you again for this very special opportunity to testify before this very distinguished committee. the select committee very much look forward to working with your committee in the future and i thank you again. >> congressman krishnamoorthi, thank you . i know you have had a busy day and you are bouncing between hearings so we will excuse you from the panel but thank you for joining us and for your leadership and for sharing with us this morning. >> thank you so much. >> we will take a brief break just to -- brief. no more than five minutes recess to allow the first panel

to depart and the second panel witnesses to take their seats and then we will reconvene. we will reconvene basically as soon as our witnesses get comfortably seated here and ready to go. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024] captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org.

mr. thompson: meeting will come to order and pleased to welcome our second panel on this topic today regarding the threats of china to american agriculture. first witness for the the committee will come to order. i am pleased to welcome our second panel. our first witness for the second panel of our hearing today is the president of the soybean association. and mr. daily that brings private sector experience, numerous agencies, the senate and committee all involved on

national security matters. the third and final witness for this panel is a great friend of the committee and of the industry ambassador. the former united states ambassador of the united nations agency for food and agriculture. thank you to our witnesses for joining us today. you each have five minutes. the timer in front of you will countdown to 0 at which time, at which time your time has expired. that will be followed by a question and answer period after all three of you have spoken. so, wherever you are ready. please begin >> thank you, chairman thompson and rank and member scott and members of the house and committee. thank you for allowing me to testify today. i am a soy bean farmer where i farm with my dad and brother on a third generation farm. this year i serve as president of the american soy bean

association. represents soy bean farmers across the united states. it is the largest export and trade is priority for our farmers. u.s. soy is working in 112 markets across the world to introduce new customers to our high quality, high protein crop. opening new markets is one step followed by time, attention and long-term relationship maintenance to ensure market access. our trading partners are all critical to the success of u.s. soy farmers. no expert destination compares to china. in the last marketing year the total $32 billion trade. china a counted for $19 billion for this total the next largest by value total dollars 3 $3 billion. one out of three groves grown in the u.s. is shipped to china to fill demand. during the 2018 trade war u.s.

soy bean export came to a halt due to tariffs. the usda found the value to exports to china decreased 76% from 2017 to 2018. it estimated the trade or cost to agriculture over $27 billion. soybeans accounted for 71% of the losses. this has had major consequences on competitive landscape for growers, as a result of the trade war, brazil ramped up production to meet chinese demand. beyond capturing china brazil increased the agriculture production. in the 2017-2018 marketing year brazil overtook the united states as the world's largest producer of soy beans. we face competition with brazil in every export market. not just china.

it damaged our reputation as reliably for the market the tariffs and the retaliation trade actions jeopardized our place in this markets and damaged in-country relationships developed over decades. at times our customers looked elsewhere for needs to avoid trade risks or duties. as the united states considering actions to protect our security interests we need to maintain and protect our economic trade interests as well. soy bean growers need certainty that we will maintain market access in china. my written testimony has three policy recommendations, number one, reject legislative attempts to repeal permanent normal trade status. asa is concerned that revoking pntr will severe consequences, soy bean exports were the first

agricultural commed comodity impacted. pass a farm bill that meets the plead of u.s. agriculture t. should have invest ment in trade promotion that are critical to the long-term success of soy abroad. funding levels and the foreign market program largely unchanged for decades even though demand for the programs increased. the new farm bill should include improvements to the farm safety net. during the trade war we experienced firsthand the insufficient farm safety net under the farm bill. we need better tools to help farmers in times of economic disruption and greater out reach. and renegotiate for bilateral and multilateral trade agreements. the u.s. was once a leader in

free trade agreements but the last one entered in 2012. despite the u.s. negotiating the trans-partnership. that is 10 years of inactivity for expansion that could of helped u.s. agriculture. while at the same time our international competitors worked to gain increase market access. so thank you again as a farmer from north dakota and on behalf of the soy bean association, it was a privilege to be with you and thank you for the opportunity to share the perspective of soy bean growers >> thank you for your leadership and your testimony today. now pleased to recognize mr. you. >> thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss this timely matter. i am honored and humbled to be

before you and the panel you assembled. the views that i share are of my own. i was fortunate enough to serve along colleagues with security council, counsel, senate and treasure. i got to witness firsthand china and their experiences. given the years in private sector helping u.s. companies, the focus of my testimony is the national and economic security considerations involved in chinese accusations of u.s. agriculture and agricultural-related business and supply chains. that said as a baseline and my witness testimony relays, recent laws implemented by china effectively compel any

chinese entity to act at the direction of the chinese state. ie, the communist party of china. so the question before the committee is, really, what do as leaders of the country believe the united states should accept of control over land and supply chains. there are serious gaps in federal laws and reporting that expose our military and critical infrastructure to vulnerabilities as they face challenges. land and farm acquisitions in oregon, texas, in close proximity of the spirit military basis and nuclear

conspiracies is not coincidental. they provide intelligence and they are constantly being sought where they provide locations for cranes, silos, windmills, near military or sensitive materials or telecommunication towers our under ground cables. raising violations of cmg and other technologies have placed at risk the nation's continued agricultural leadership. there are ample cases of chinese agents being caught taking such technologies. china's dependents ensures their goals will remain a priority. china's cyberwarfare, pla unit 61398 have the capability to disrupt key american infrastructure, critical to our agriculture. including power and water

utilities and communication and transportation systems. china's global acquisition in supply chain monopolies continue to go unchecked and unaddressed. we have significant dependencies on parts, electrics, other inputs to our agricultural machinery the nutritional needs of our livestock is under dependence and inputs to pesticides and herbacides and china has companies for platforms for chinese market. globally and in the united states. so, diversion of product, sizeable negative impacts on u.s. producers. further, china's acquisition of global agriculture storage and logistic aspects should be examined. lastly, given the advances of farm technologies, our reliance on supply explain that provide kill switches to our machinery, our eyes, our productions, all matters that need to be

addressed. there are solutions. federal laws addressing foreign ownership should be considered. changes to them. given the vulnerabilities of state to state restrictions. there are adjustments to be made to better respond to chinese farm and other agricultural acquisitions. as led by the committee the gao has better farm ownership standards and a number of members pointed to additional solutions in reporting. stronger cybersecurity vigilance, championed by members here is critical. there are hosts of other possible solutions in the face of funding challenges to make sure our nation remains vigilant on the uninvited, unwarranted and sophisticated threats that certain actors present to our nation and food security. that concludes my opening remarks and i look forward to hearing from you and addressing to the best of my ability

questions you wish to raise >> sir, thank you very much, appreciate your experience and significant experience and your input. now i recognize ambassador tom, please proceed with five minutes of testimony wherever you are ready. >> thompson, scott, members of the house commit on agriculture. as a lifelong farmer i would like to share my perspective with you today on the threat of china to america's food supply and agricultural systems. i add the world is watching us today. americans need to understand our international security is dependent on our food security. americans can not any longer take agriculture and our food systems for granted. jinping and the chinese communist party recognize food and their relation to power in the world the ccp's goal is to

reshape the world order through their control of the brick nations, global trade, and belts and roads initiative all to have economic superiority over the united states and our allies. to meet these goals they are strategically growing their agriculture production domestically and globally at the expense of the united states. i will address a number of the risks by the ccp that we can deal with immediately. first, cybersecurity. threats to the agriculture are diverse and can have significant impacts on the industry. some of the key concerns include intellectual property theft, chinese targeted farming dating, breeding information and biotechnology research that will lead to a loss of competitive advantage for the united states. i have seen this firsthand in the seed production industry. several chinese nationals were sending seeds in our area from

production fields and shipping them back to china. these chinese nationals were caught and convicted but how many were not caught? according to the american seed trade association it takes 5-15 years to develop a seed variety. at a cost of over $100 million. it also estimates that the annual value of agriculture seed production in the u.s. is over $11 billion annually. data-driven attacks, agriculture rely heavily on this data as examples like farms like ours produce a tarabyte of data that is exclusive to our farm. we are at extreme risk of theft or attack of this data that can alter and disrupt our systems and lead to incorrect farming decisions and likely harm yields. they have been numerous attempts by the chinese to steal the data.

fortunately they were caught and convicted. again, how many were not caught. infrastructure attacks. electrical grid to supply explain and broadband can be targeted in disrupting our food supply. when we consider ransomware, farming operations can be lawsuited by attacks demanding payments to -- can be halting by attacks demanding payments. we can all remember jbs attacks that disrupted the entire supply chain from livestock production operations to the consumer's dinner table. the $11 million ransom was paid but the cost to the company and the agriculture supply chain was many multiples greater. espionage, chinese are creative in their attempts to steal the information from as many data. from industries, cranes in ports and anything that has data or conversations. although the u.s. government has -- is aware of the threats

we need to strengthen protection from america's food supply and advantage. identifying vulnerabilities and improving the protective measures of government against cyberthreats. next, portions of our supply explain have been off shored. including building blocks for our food system such as crop production and nutrients. these are the basic elements that nourish crops, protect them from weeds, insects and diseases. a supply chain report indicates 70%, 70% of the crop protection products that are produced globally, most from china. another 40% of the world's phosphorous supply is from china. imagine if they shut off our supply. without crop protection, products, or crop nutrients yields will decrease, requiring substantially more land to maintain current production levels, the economic impact to

farmers, consumers and our nation would have devastating consequences. this would lead to higher consumer prices and food insecurity in the united states and around the world. this is a national security threat to the united states and our allies. therefore, the absence of crop protection and products will have a far-reaching impact. the answer is, we need to allow for reasonable and durable regulations to prevail to allow the united states to bring this manufacturing capacity back home while supporting those that are already manufacturing these critical products here at home in the u.s. to feed the americans and the world. in summary, if the impact is from cybersecurity threats or from minimized access to crop nutrients or crop protection products the chinese are strategically building their world dominance over food. it is coming at the expense of

american invasion but amplified by regulatory environment. the people in these chambers on this hill need to take action to bring our supply chains home, protect our invasion and increase funding for research and development. now is the time for agriculture and food systems, if not, america could, once again, face food insecurity like we did 100 years ago. it is time to stop taking ago and our food systems for granted. again, the world is watching. i yield the floor back to you chairman thompson. >> ambassador thank you very much for your record and service and leadership and your input in this topic. we are now going to, at this time, members will recognize questions for seniority, major and minority members and order of arrival for those after. i am willing to defear my line of questioning will the end. each will be recognized five minutes each to allow us to get

as many questions as possible. starting on the majority side. mr. lucas from oklahoma for five minutes >> thank you, for calling this hearing and the witnesses for testifying today. during my time in congress i have been engage fld and party to many discussions of foreign investment. due to my position on the house financial service committee. this is due to the committee's jurisdiction over foreignip investment on the united states, it is located within treasure. -- treasury. the challenge is tension between two widely shared goals of protecting our national security and fostering a welcoming economic environment. congress is attempted to strike that balance during various reforms of process. most notably 2007 with fensa and 2017 with firma. today i invite you to join me to our panel friends in that

discussion. first to mr. daly, then the rest of the panel. from your viewpoint what is the correct balance between national security while also allowing the international investment in our economy, let's just cut straight to the chase. well, we have to keep our open investment, that has been sustained from president carter until now. one of the greatest strengths we have is the investment we get from abroad. trade important but investment. as you know, oversight capacity. there are issues that are drawn from foreign investment. chinese actors have been interesting in the way that they have found vulnerabilities in our laws and the gaps that proceed from it but in their capabilities to use third party actors to gain entrance and access to places where we have

needs in terms of our national security. the great balance, i think, is to continue with our open investment policy. but be smart in how we a lie our national security. >> either of you gentleman wish to touch on there? >> i would add from farmer's perspective. as a grower and a landowner and farming land in north dakota the concern around foreign investment is real for growers as well. that added investment that outside buyers come. and it is not just china. it is other out of state and foreign owners that potentially can drive up the cost of land and producing for a farmer in north dakota. there is a concern there. and then i would say on the input side. there are foreign ownership of research and development

facilities when it comes to seed, chemical and other inputs. research and development facilities that benefit me on the farm when i can use new and improved product. in those two areas there is work to be done probably and you are right it is a tough balance. i don't envy the job that congress has and administration in finding that right balance but i think from a grower's perspective two places to look at. >> any thoughts ambassador? >> i will share my experiences globally. my time as ambassador, travel through the middle east and a lot in africa and over the years businesses that we had in latin america. i can assure you that the chinese are aggressive in their approach in investing in a lot of these developing nations to make sure they can secure a food source. i look particular in africa. nearly 1.1 billion hectors of farmland. united states is around 150 million. i can tell you as a traveled

across africa they are the most essential part china is gaming for is the minerals. it is not. longer run it is them as their bread basket. look at central america, belts and road initiative china invested there. same goes. that is why we see the growth in brazilian soybeans moving into china. brick nations are forming up together. it is through the investment of the chinese party. when i come back to the united states i think we have to be extremely careful where they do invest. we need to have eyes on this. i only engage you to please be careful. >> mr. chairman i can not think of any more important subject than we are addressing today. i will say this in closing i want to thank you claire man thompson of your support of the legislation, agriculture security risk review act signed into law earlier this month. this legislation officially adds the secretary of

agriculture to the committee. this is the first formal addition of a cabinet secretary since 2007 and reflects what we all on this committee know to be true. a country that can not feed itself can not defend itself. and with that i want to thank you and i yield back the balance of my time. >> yields back, recognize for five minutes rank and member scott. >> thank you very much. and, gentleman, i want to thank you for letting democratic to go first. we are proud to hear from a farm or this issue and such great remarks. thank you for letting my democratic colleague go first. and mr. tom i want -- you said some profound words. you said the world is watching us today on this very strategic

national security issue. and i thank you for that statement. indeed they are. i learned so much from so many of my colleagues but none more than congress member mcgovern on this whole food issue. he is a national world leader on food security and hunger. and i am telling you, this is a national issue. and i hope if there is one thing that goes from this hearing is that we are putting this issue at the front of the list. people all over the world are watching us. we are the most powerful nation in the world. we have beds of hunger.

our children, our veterans. people going hungry, needing food. then we have these threats. i am not putting any sugar coating on it. i believe there are foreign interests out there who are looking at our system and trying to find the weaknesses. one area we can not be weak on is providing the american people with food. and keeping this as our number one trade issue for agriculture and farmers. i so appreciate each of you coming forward with this. gentleman, once again, i just thank you for putting this hearing together because it is timely. now let me just ask a couple questions here in your

testimony you discuss that the 2018 trade war led to brazil capturing market share in klinea and other parts of the world. now, there has been some discussion of imposing a 60% tariff trump, presidential candidate has mentioned that on chinese products. so, i want to ask you, what impact do you think that would have on u.s. soybean production? we believe any tariff would be bad fluff just for agriculture but a lot of other businesses as well. it would lead to, again, knowing there is a balance and

that practices in china that need to be addressed but that type of step or that level of tariff or any level of tariff. 2018 it was 25%. i believe if that number is right. and the -- i mean we saw immediate drop in the market price for soybeans in particular. a $2 drop in just a short time after those tariffs were announced and then the retaliation from china. so, if we are learning anything from history and from the experience we had in 2018, you can expect something similar or even more detrimental when it comes to a price loss for u.s. farmers and soybean producers >> thank you. and ambassador tom, you noted in your testimony that inlet intellectual threat is number one by klinea, china.

what are, in your opinion, concrete step that we in congress can take to protect u.s. agriculture technology? >> . >> certainly. there have been major steps taken. we heard about the potential theft on data systems, you know, farmers use extensively much data today, if it is consolation of satellites operating tractors to communicating algorithm in the computtory the tractor to the seeding. these all have been compromised. they have been stolen. problemly continues today. but i know this. the chinese who did not have that property in the past have it now.

we will see yields in china and 10% on corn here soon, displacing more u.s. commed onity sales. seeing some of the same in soybeans. >> they need to be deeper than today. what are we considering. we need to bring in the best professionals that understand the data and cybersecurity threats. if we don't, they are going to continue to out game us along the way. but, again, we plead to make sure we invest in research and development to stay ahead of them and make sure we protect it. they displent 10.4 billion a year on research. we are only maybe 1/10th of that. we need to shore it up. if not, we will suffer the consequences and food security around the world. i can tell you in my time with

the world food program, working with them. we were feeding 150 million people a day around the world. at a cost up to two years ago $14 billion. that can not continue. when people are not food secure they migrate, trafficking and terrorist activities. as i said, food security is our national security we plead to focus that >> thank you very much, and thank you for that extra minute chairman. >> appreciate you gentleman. now, recognize mr. kelly. for five minutes of questioning. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to recognize. i have two young and inspiring farmers and ranchers here. avery and aubry moore from mississippi. i offer special congratulations of vice president ffa chapter t. is important we recognize our young and inspiring

farmers. i really just want to thank them for being here and interested enough to sit in this hearing. i echo what you say ambassador tom. americans need to have access to fertilizer and pesticides. in addition to serving on this committee i am a member of the house armed services and intelligence committee. i promise you i value the security on this food security is national security as much as i do on the armed services and intelligence community. as a result i am very concerned about the national security implications stemming from the increasing dependence on the people's republic of china for primary ingredients in commonly used pesticides. one of the factors driving the dependency is public policy that encourages the off shoring

of the critical tools for agriculture production. for any witnesses on the panel today. do you share my concern about american agriculture reliance upon china for many of our crop protection tools. are these steps to take to encourage us to produce these tools here and reduce our dependency on china and other countries. >> certainly, i will be glad to address that. research slows, nearly 70% of our critical crop care product comes from global resources. most of that from china. these are products that are, as i said, protect our plants from weeds, insects, diseases. we have off shored them. we have to ask that question, first y are they off shored? i would say they t is because of the burden we have here in the united states. regulatory systems to function

to make sure we have to have them functioning here or with one of our friends and allies around the world. you know, it takes time to bring us back. these critical components that we use to produce crops and feed our livestock and take care of our live stock. you will not do it overnight. it will probably take you 10 years to bring the capital back here and build the facilities and hire the people to get it done. it will take time. we have to start now. we need a national agriculture strategy to support food security in the united states and our economy. if we can't bring these resources back, we will be very, very vulnerable in the future. >> i want to thank you. i want to ask another question. but i agree. you know, we are one of the most giving nations in the world. i think sometimes people don't understand we don't just feed our nation we feed the world. we are indiscrim nant about

nant. for any of the witnesses do you know if there exists a centralized strategy by the chinese communist party to reduce the reliance on food and vegetables and if you do, do you know the extent to which they are subsidizing the threats to our food supply? >> i have nothing to add to fruits. it is because of the declining economy in china that they are accelerating their crop care products and could be dumping them on the market. obviously subsidizing them. that is one of the risks that i see n. terms of fruits and vegetables i have no knowledge of that. >> thank you. >> those are excellent questions. i really don't. the fruits and vegetable side i do know china where it wants to

focus will subsidize it i will say and add in terms of inputs to our dependencies if you look at the vitamins necessary for our livestock, if that is a or b or d or e. we have dependency on china 70% to 90%. and, that is sourcing and it just happened over time. gradually businesses seen cost wise to move there. we see what it causes in terms of supply chains in dependency and vulnerability as the ambassador relayed we need to find ways to take a examination of our supply chain vulnerabilities. determine where we need to address matters. and prioritize them. and then find the resources to do it. obviously funding is always difficult but there are ways to do things without having the funding to make sure you prioritize in the cyberrelm, in

agriculture, what fbi is doing in terms of focusing on ag versus other portions. just creating that analysis and i know the u.s. department of ag and you all are doing that oversight to get them focused on the vulnerabilities especially where it concerns our food supply. >> i thank the witnesses and my time expired and i yield back. >> thank you, gentleman. now, recognize my friend from massachusetts >> thank you very much mr. chairman. i want to thank our witnesses, thank you for your excellent testimony and i think it is always important to talk about how important food security is to national security. you know, there is a lot of attention in this congress given to china, understandably so. sometimes i wonder how serious we are about addressing the

challenges. last week we did a bill to ban tiktok, we are concerned about data, the privacy of our data. but we did nothing to address the security of our data on all of the other social media platforms that china can use a data broker to purchase and get that same information. and, you know, when we talk about -- even on today's topic i want to make sure what we are doing is we are really actually doing something that is meaningful, will protect our land and our food supply. as a co-chair of the human rights commission for many years and for four years i was the chair of the congressional commission on china. i authored the force labor act and i know what it means to act when we have serious disagreements with the klinenies government. both of those bills became law. and i also recognize at the same time that we have a trade

relationship with china. that is important. we don't want to seek a wider conflict. i have a little bit of a leg to stand on when i question the seriousness of what we do here. mr. daly, i am going to -- i am venting not asking a question but i wanted to say i appreciated the thoughtfulness of your testimony and the expertise that you bring in the topic. in your written testimony you mentioned the 2013 acquisition of smith food has ties to the prc government. and smithfield now controls about a quarter, a quarter of all u.s. production and exports a significant quantity of pork to china, tightening our domestic supply. i think it is appropriate for this committee to carefully consider what impact that has

on u.s. food security. which is why it astounds me that we have some of my friends on the other side led by some of these people who talk tough on china are carrying the water for smithfield. many people listening may be aware of california proposition 12, it is a farm animal welfare law that out laws inhumane confinement of pigs in california. 2022 polling they favor a law like proposition 12 in the state. i am from massachusetts. and massachusetts we have a similar law known as question 3. plow, pork producers led by smithfield were unhappy with the new standards and went to the supreme court last year and they lost and they lost. now they are coming to congress to overturn the will of california and massachusetts. we have a bill that is the latest attempt to overturn states rights to set their own

animal cruelty standards and now just last week i heard our chairman tell the news outlet he wants a fix to proposition 12 in the farm bill. we just heard the governor of south dakota talk about states rights and how in south dakota she wants a state plan. nobody objected to that. so, if nobody is objecting to a state sifis process why object to a state putting controls on animal cruelty? and again, really at the insistence of the chinese-owned company. and i just, i -- you know, i -- to my colleagues i think it is hypocritical to talk tough about influence of chinese government in our food system while actively helping some of the entities that they are

concerned about. so, you can not just care about food security when it is politically useful or suits the business interests that you may be beholded to. it has to be all of the time. and i just want to add one other thing. based on congresswoman said, i want to make another point about farmland ownership that is getting a lot of attention today. i am open and certainly willing to work with my colleagues on limiting the investment of foreign governments in u.s. farmland but we have to be careful that it does not taringel them on international origin or perceived national origin. without objection i would like to submit an article "with new alien land laws asian americans are targeted by bans" i will close there was a time in our history where we excluded people from landownership based

on prejudice and unfounded suspicions, i hope we don't go back to that. i thank you for all of your testimony and thank you mr. chairman. >> without objection will enter that into the record. gentleman's time expired. it is about ties to the chinese communist party. we are not, as i said in my opening statements it is not targeting individuals of any ethnic origin. now, pleased to recognize. >> thank you, chairman thompson and ranking member scott for holding this hearing ited and thank you to the witnesses for joining us. i want to say thank you. i am a fourth generation soybean farmer, raising the fifth. and it makes me very happy to know we have someone like you at the helm leading our

efforts, fighting for our commodities and future of our families. nothing will make my life complete than watching the fifth generation for the farm. that is not just for me, that is grandma, great grand plaand -- great grandma and grandpa. >> i understand the importance of the threats that we are faced with here with the chinese communist party and what it really does to farm country. it is time for us to take this serious. we must work swiftly to move differently and effectively for getting most of our eggs out of the basket of china. and the best way to describe this, i will just say, look at what we went through a few years back when we were struggling to find the computer chips that were needed to start our new f1-50 in farm country.

our new tractors. and i tell people often, now, think, if that was eggs, bacon, turkey, if we were that relying from food security standpoint in regards to frankly, folks that might not like us tomorrow. and how really that shows the importance of the american farmer and how we have to continue to protect and fight for our way of life. so, with that said there are a lot of ways that i think we can maybe unwind this. mr. ambassador. as you know the white house is 2023 national cybersecurity strategy and the director of national intelligence threat assessment emphasized that the people's republic of china is the most advanced, active and persistent cyberthreat to the united states. specifically an increase in cyberattacks targeting the american agriculture and food sector highlights a serious threat to our egg economy. as critical infrastructure sectored, do you believe food and animal sector is prepared for and possesses the ability to respond to a major

cyberattack against our key suppliers in the ag industry? >> no we are not. i know we have taken major steps to protect this from a private sector perspective. i appreciate any involvement the government can be on this. i know there is an institute at perdue institute that works on a lot of there. we need to make sure we can manage it and hold it close. but, we are not doing enough yet today. and i add this, if we really think we are going to see less digital agriculture in the future we are wrong. tell continue to accelerate at a rapid rate. the velocity will be essential. >> yes, thank you for that ambassador, just in my short tenure running the farm my father retired when the tractor started driving itself. my 15-year-old son plants corn until 3:00 a.m. because of that technology. that technology is an amazing advancement in our farm but it is also posing a potential new threat we have not dealt with

before. along these lines mr. daly in january i introduced the farm and food security act that would direct the secretary of agriculture to look into the viability and conduct a cross sector crisis simulation exercise. due to the wide range of national security threat that klinea poses to the sector, coordination between federal agencies and sharing timely actionable threat information with private industry is more critical now than ever. from your perspective, how well is the government sharing threat intelligence with the industry and do you believe usda can play an elevated role in helping the ag industry for future threats. >> i want to commend you on all of that . >> i apologize. >> thank you, congressman for that question. it is an excellent question. i want to commend you on the

legislation that you proposed t. is critical.. understanding the threats on our agriculture it is needed. my time in government the intelligence sharing that i saw happened a lot with defense contractors and within the banking community so they were industries that sort of had the benefit of that intelligence sharing. if you look at the cyberawareness and agriculture community and with the department of agriculture it has been lacking. and your bill is necessary to get it on the right track. i know the department of ag just had information sharing division. they are taking measures to improve that intelligence. but given china's capabilities and fbi director ray relayed this in terms of their ability to shut off our infrastructure, water, power, that effect our

farmers and ranchers and producers. we need a full assessment. so your bill goes towards that direction. >> thank you, mr. chair. my time is up i yield back. >> gentleman yields back. recognize gentleman from new york for five minutes >> thank you very much mr. chairman. i appreciate all of the witnesses for being here today. i represent western new york in the southern tier counties of new york state along the pennsylvania line. i am deeply concerned about the unrealistic plan proposed by our governor to reduce economy wide greenhouse gas emissions in new york by 40% by 2030 and no less 85% in 2050. this time line is not feasible for many industries in rural upstate new york but what is alarming in this plan is our governor's push for electriccasion in agriculture. i believe it could have serious consequences. as you are all aware diesel

fuel plays a crucial role in powering the combines and other equipment essential for farmers. farming is around-the-clock endeavor and relying on more heavily electric charging vehicles and the farming and inconvenience for parking equipment for hours and hours on end to charge. and with all of that said i raise these concerns because it is important to recognize that china's significant role in this sector. particularly, the mineral and battery supply explains as these are crucial components for all ev technology. if we start pushing an all a agenda we are not only hurting farmers but contributing to china's control. i see it as a lose/lose for farmers, all of ago and for our national security and with

that, can you discuss the feasibility and impacts of implementing an aggressive agenda like the one new york state is contemplating. how it would impact your members and could you address if pursuing such an agenda in the u.s. ag sector might lead to increased dependency on supply chains? you know, and what it would mean to our national security. >> thank you, congressman. very good questions and points. i will speak from my farmer and grower perspective. there is a time and a place for electric vehicles and that is going to probably be more widely adopted on the coast, larger urban areas but me as a farmer and producer in the middle of north dakota from the trucking to the tractors, the combines, rail, what we rely on to move product from our farms to our elevators to our markets, those types of

industries i think will probably be later adopters when it comes to electric. and what, so what we have to offer in that space is american, as farmers as asa, the significant addition that we provide to the liquid fuel market. and that just again it is another testament of what the u.s. farmer can produce. example of where we are trying to diversify markets and demand. not relying on foreign markets even while we try to expand those. but again just a example of what the american farmer is doing to transition this time period in that transportation fleet. and the risk of relying on china for the infrastructure or the materials for further electric vehicle adoption like any input, anything we rely on from foreign markets there is additional risk if you can not

produce it domestically >> thank you. >> mr. daly, we like to open it up to you. food security is national security. i am concerned to rely on china for these critical minerals puts us as a significant risk. mr. daly could you also address pursuing the agenda in the u.s. ag sector might have more reliance on china >> thank you, congressman. that is an excellent question. currently we are in a large deficit in this particular technology. battery technology that china dominates right now. so, if we don't get our policy right it creates a serious dependency, creating a vulnerability in our agriculture production. that is why we need to focus on it. i know there is a concerted focus on building out america's capabilities in this respect. but we have to put the resources to it. >> very good. and i know you play of touched

on this mr. daly can you reiterate some of the international concerns regarding acquisitions and other land holdings near our military bases. >> sure, thank you for that excellent question. as this committee is well aware the fu fang transaction in north dakota was a serious indication of what china can do in terms of what it wants to do in terms of its placement in my experience in sifis and transactionses there is a number of significant acquisitions where they have gone to acquire land or farmland that is near a military facility, top gun facilities, number of transactions occurred in nevada near -- there were under the label of gold mine that was meant to look at our capabilities and in oregon, the transaction involving a wind farm. you know, wind farm towers can be used for devices can be put

in there to see what we are doing and the facility there, they are looking at would have given site to that was critical facility to the united states in terms of what we were doing in defense of taiwan. they are strategic, smart, they have studied us and will continue to do so. >> thank you very much, i yield back >> gentleman's time expires. recognize the gentleman from california for five minutes >> thank you very much mr. chairman for holding this committee. i think it is timely for a lot of reasons that we are all aware of. members of this committee have gotten used to me saying as a third generation farmer from california that food is a national security issue. i get frustrated along with many of my colleagues on this commit that he too often a majority of americans do not look as food being a national security issue because we do it

so well with less than 4% of our population involved but it is. i think it is important that this committee focus on the danger that china poses to america in terms of its impact on american agriculture and therefore food put on america's dinner table every night. let me just kind of give you my thoughts and then i have a couple questions i want to ask. i really think that the best strategy for this because china is an adversary. they are a competitor, and they are a vast market. so regardless what administration is in office they have that challenge. this is an adversary, no mistake about it. we compete against one another and they do not complete fairly. they do not play with the same rules and they are involved in theft of technology and other efforts. and, but yet they are a vast market. how do you balance those three

factors for any administration is a problem. the bush administration and then followed by the obama administration prior to an effort that i thought had merit, transpacific partnership where you engaged other nearby countries to leverage china. i think that is far better than tariff war that ultimately the last president gotten gauged in, and why -- got engaged in. if you really want to have an opportunity to deal with this market if you want an opportunity to deal with the factors of competition and realizing this is adversary i think that the ttp was a better strategy. yes, market access program is helpful to our american farmers and processors and it is over subscribed and i have legislation that would double the funding for that. if it can come to pass with our challenges with the farm bill remains to be seen. so, let me just ask you mr.

daly for starters, your testimony was china and agriculture supply chain. the pandemic i think we understood that our supply chain is in need of assistance at every level, especially agriculture. with biotechnology and tools to help producers meet challenges by reducing greenhouse gases and e pligzs and foster resilience in climate chance in the agriculture supply chain, what is your thoughts? too often i think china is a bad actor. they are politically driven in their regulatory system and limits innovating technologies and their theft of american technology and i don't even want to start with artificial intelligence and the problems with algorithm. but be sides purchasing united states ag land. how do you create a fair level

playing field? >> . >> in a minute or less. >> thank you very much >> it is, it is difficult and it is milt i facetted and you have to take it sector by sector and issue by issue in terms of making it a level playing field with china. in terms of -- we got to be smart in terms of what we address in china. >> you acknowledge it is not a level playing field >> it is not. absolutely. the chinese are state driven economy. subsidize where they want to subsidize and they will destroy markets and our u.s. production capabilities where they want. >> do you think in the supply explain issues and for the rest of us, you know, we pass the bipartisan $1.2 trillion investment in infrastructure in the last congress and i think when we look at our ports and harbors and supply chains, california dairy industry is

very dependent upon those feed trains coming in every week to california. but the whole essence of food development production value added that we invest some of that infrastructure in that infrastructure? >> yeah, i think a number of bills passed by congress bringing up and strengthening the it there is a lot to do food supply chain and dealing with the competition of china. mr. gackle: i think it's clear the united states is the reason we're a dominant power in food systems, because of our natural resources. we've got a large concentration of highly productive soils. we have 14,800 miles of navigable waterways. much more than any other nation, germany or china. and we need to leverage those resources to be competitive in a world space. on selling our commodities and crops.

mr. tom: when i look at that infrastructure, though, i look at our dams, our locks, our ports, they're aging and i know the infrastructure bill was supposed to make an impact there. but if you look at the civil society engineers association, they come out with reports that we really get a d rating on our infrastructure. mr. costa: currently but we just provided funding. we're not ambitiously trying to do just what you say. we're doing it in california, we're rehabilitating a lot of aging infrastructure in water. i don't know if you care to comment. my time's expired. mr. gackle: just quickly to say, the ag community, producers and specifically a. s-frpt a. are -- a.s. afrpt are actively -- a.s. afrpt are actively involved in investing in infrastructure. the water resources development act that congress re-authorizes, another important tool to help farmers and to make sure we have the necessary infrastructure to move our product and move it

efficiently and sustainably. mr. costa: thank you, mr. chairman. mr. thompson: the gentleman's time has expired. we are in the middle of a vote series, three votes have been called about 10 minutes ago. so we're going to go to one more question and then we're going to recess and we will be returning immediately after the third vote. i'm pleased to recognize the gentleman from south dakota, mr. sen. johnson: thank you, mr. chairman -- mr. johnson: thank you, mr. chairman. i'll start with mr. gackle and note i'm on select committee on the chinese communist party, that it's led by mr. krishnamoorthi and mr. gallagher who we heard from earlier. and i've gotten a little bit of a reputation, mr. chairman, on that committee for talking about soybean all the time because it is really hard to overstate the role of soybeans in this relationship between china and the united states. and that's why i was so pleased that you talked about soybeans, i think you said the prime

casualty of the 2018 trade war. in that environment, we know how important diversifying our markets are. i want to be plight to ambassador -- polite to the ambassador because she's brilliant and hardworking. i think it's safe to say that the trade agenda has been pretty lukewarm for this administration. if you all were going to look at market access, are there specific markets that you think are ready to pop and that would reduce the amount of hrefbgers that china has over -- levers that china has over our nation and soybean growers? >> thank you, congressman. very good questions and i'm glad you asked them because there's a lot of work that we are tkphog that area -- we are doing in that area. it's important to remember, we are involved in 112 different countries and markets. when i say we, it's u.s. soy, not just a.s.a. making those investments, trying to find new and emerging markets. mr. gackle: we have a program within the american soybean association, wish, the world

initiative for soy and human health. it's a very important program. and it partners with farmer invested dollars. mr. johnson: but what markets are ready to take that next leap? mr. gackle: i think south asia, indonesia, japan, korea. there are places there. north africa and europe, there's some potential there. there's some regulatory issues with getting more into europe but they're a big buyer. mexico is a big buyer. so there are opportunities in different places. and that's long-term. it takes a long time to build a market. so in the short-term, to replace the scale of china, just redifficult. but -- just very difficult. but we are working -- mr. johnson: 06% of -- 60% of south dakota soybeans go to asia. replacing the markets, we're all in on the joke, you're not going to replace that market. but if you reduce the

concentration, it makes sure we're not at such a power asymmetry. mr. tom: in terms of new markets, i agree, the southeast asia market is a market we need to look to. we need to look at some of the places in the northern part of south america and colombia as a good trading partner. we have some real problems with mexico right now. i hope we get those resolved sooner than later. and i'll say this as well. there's quite a bit of work going on in africa. i agree, we have to diversify our keft measure base -- customer base. i think we're already on the road to losing more of our market share into china. we have to be aware of that. we need to do what we can to retain that trade but we cannot sacrifice our own national security and our food security in our own country. so we have to make sure we stay on top of that. mr. johnson: i would note, you're exactly right. we should all be underlying the importance of american soft power. when we talk about the global south, when we talk about southeast asia and africa, we cannot allow unfettered chinese

leadership in those areas. people, they understand the almost a deal with the devil they are making on chinese deals. they are looking for american leadership and unfortunately too often america is receding back into ourselves a little bit. i'm sure you've seen the same numbers i have. in public opinion surveys in africa, more respondents will say they view china as the leader of the world than america. that is a major problem. i interrupted, other thoughts on that topic? mr. tom: in terms of africa. we mutt more money into africa than china does and we don't ask anything in return. china will always go in and do something, whether the world bank came in and gave a loan to a certain particular nation, they default on that loan, china comes in and creates a tkefbg spiral on it. then they end up getting mineral resources and other resources that the country has, taking on

the loan at a very big discount. we have a threat of them continuing to ask for something every time they go to a nation. we ask for nothing. mr. johnson: thank you very much. i wish i had another five minutes but my time is running low, mr. chairman. and i would yield. mr. thompson: the gentleman yields back. the committee stands in recess to immediately -- until immediately after casting the third vote in this series. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024] ways

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