Letter opposing EATS Act cites Chinese government's 'profound level of control of pig production' in the US
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FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., is urging the House's agriculture committee to reject the Exposing Agriculture Trade Suppression (EATS) Act in the 2024 farm bill over concerns the Chinese Communist Party(CCP) will continue dominating control of the U.S. pork industry.
On Friday, Luna will send a letter to the committee warning the EATS Act could undermine state laws and standards for agricultural production, posing a threat to American farmers in the pork industry while benefiting foreign-owned companies.
"If the House Agriculture Committee adopts this harmful proposal, it will hurt thousands of American farmers, and substantially benefit foreign-owned farms that have come to dominate the domestic U.S. pork industry — especially pork production in the United States under the control of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Beijing," Luna wrote.
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Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., delivers remarks. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Opponents of the bill, like the Humane Society of the U.S., argue it would effectively roll back nearly 1,000 local animal welfare laws that would create "the extreme confinement of egg-laying hens, baby veal calves and breeding pigs, while threatening other animal welfare laws, such as those dealing with cruel puppy mills and the slaughter of horses, dogs and cats for their meat, as well as wildlife trafficking."
Luna agreed.
"The EATS Act is simply a veiled attempt by these foreign-owned corporations to subvert the will of American voters, who chose to adopt a series of measures through ballot initiatives and state lawmaking to allow more space for animals raised for food production," Luna's letter states. "The EATS Act proposes to unwind these legitimately enacted animal housing standards, and the Chinese government, with its profound level of control of pig production in the United States, stands to reap a substantial benefit."
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Several GOP represenatives signed onto the letter with Luna: Matt Gaetz, Jeff Van Drew, Byron Donalds, Andy Biggs, Nancy Mace, Matt Rosendale, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Bob Good.
They wrote that they are "gravely concerned about infiltration of American pork production by foreign adversaries, principally the CCP."
Smithfield Foods, a Virginia-based pork producer, is wholly owned by the CCP, the letter notes, and controls nearly 26% of the U.S. pork market. The big meat producer also supports the EATS Act.
Pigs in a pen on a farm on the outskirts of Hanoi June 2, 2022. (Nhac Nguyen/AFP via Getty Images)
"A Brazil-based agribusiness giant, JBS, controls an additional 14% of pig production, meaning just two foreign companies control production and distribution of 40% of the U.S. pork supply," Luna added. "That level of foreign control is unprecedented in any other sector of American agriculture. Rather than do their bidding in the upcoming Farm Bill, we should be working to reduce this level of penetration in our pork industry so that we can restore the dominance of domestic pork producers in our homeland."
In January, a GAO report detailed the findings of its investigation of the Biden administration's failure to track Chinese investment in U.S. farms.
BIDEN ADMIN FAILING TO TRACK CHINESE OWNERSHIP OF US FARMLAND: GOVT WATCHDOG
Bales of hay are stored under shelters at Al Dahra Farms Oct. 17, 2023, in the McMullen Valley in Wenden, Ariz. (AP Photo/John Locher)
The report revealed the Department of Agriculture (USDA) has failed to consistently share timely data on foreign investments in U.S. agricultural land as required under the 1978 Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA). Further, Pentagon officials told investigators that USDA needs to regularly provide more up-to-date and specific AFIDA data, according to the report.
USDA's most recent data suggests that, as of 2021, foreign investment in U.S. agricultural land grew to approximately 40 million acres. Additionally, Chinese agricultural investment in the U.S. increased tenfold between 2009 and 2016 alone.
Fox News' Thomas Catenacci contributed to this report.
Jamie Joseph is a writer who covers politics. She leads Fox News Digital coverage of the Senate.
