Sponsors (15)
Official title: Amend the Defense Production Act of 1950 to prevent harm and disruption to the United States agriculture industry by protecting against foreign influence over agriculture production and supply chains, and for other purposes.
Introduced January 22, 2025 by Thomas Hawley Tuberville · Last progress January 22, 2025
The bill strengthens federal tools and information to protect U.S. agriculture and food security from risky foreign control, but does so at the cost of higher compliance and transaction costs, potential reductions in foreign investment, operational constraints for supply chains, and some risks to diplomacy and agency capacity.
Farmers, agricultural workers, and rural communities gain stronger federal ability to identify and block foreign control of farms and food supply chains, reducing the risk of foreign takeovers that could threaten domestic production and food security.
Policymakers and regulators gain more agricultural expertise inside CFIUS (a USDA representative) and clearer reporting, improving decisions and oversight of foreign investment in agriculture.
Farmers and agribusinesses get greater transparency about foreign ownership and trends, helping them anticipate risks to local economies and make better business and governance decisions.
Farmers, small agribusinesses, and prospective foreign investors may face longer reviews, mitigation requirements, and regulatory uncertainty that raise transaction costs, delay deals, and could reduce foreign capital available to U.S. agriculture.
Designating agricultural systems as critical infrastructure and applying restrictive mitigation could disrupt supply chain operations or limit foreign sourcing, increasing operational constraints for rural producers and processors.
Expanded scrutiny of foreign investment could prompt diplomatic friction or retaliatory measures from affected countries, complicating trade relations and potentially imposing broader costs on taxpayers and exporters.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Expands CFIUS jurisdiction to include agriculture and supply chains, adds the Agriculture Secretary to CFIUS, and requires USDA and GAO reports on foreign influence in U.S. agriculture.
Adds U.S. agriculture and agricultural supply chains to the kinds of transactions subject to CFIUS (the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States) review, and makes the Secretary of Agriculture an explicit member of the Committee. Requires the Secretary of Agriculture and the Government Accountability Office to analyze and report to Congress within one year on foreign investment, foreign influence, espionage, and risks to U.S. agricultural production, supply chains, and agriculture-related R&D and data. The changes apply to transactions on or after enactment and expand CFIUS’ jurisdiction by designating agricultural systems and supply chains as critical infrastructure and by listing agricultural supply chains among covered critical technologies for Committee review and potential mitigation or blocking actions.