Sponsors (13)
The bill aims to make agricultural supply chains more resilient and spur rural investment by collecting private data and recommending onshoring policies, but it risks higher costs for taxpayers and some farmers and may be undermined if voluntary data collection is incomplete.
Farmers and agricultural businesses will receive targeted recommendations and policy attention to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers, strengthening supply-chain resilience and reducing vulnerability to disruptions.
Rural communities could see more onshore or nearshore agricultural production, creating local jobs and attracting investment to struggling rural areas.
Small businesses and farmers will have greater assurance that sensitive business data will be aggregated/de-identified and trade secrets excluded, which may increase private-sector willingness to share information voluntarily with the government.
Farmers who rely on lower-cost imports (including from China) could face higher input prices if recommendations push toward protectionist trade measures, squeezing farm profitability and raising food costs.
Taxpayers could bear new costs if Congress implements subsidies, incentives, or regulatory changes to encourage onshoring of production.
Because the data collection is voluntary, participation gaps could produce incomplete assessments and weaken the effectiveness of any recommended actions or policy changes.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires USDA to produce an annual assessment of U.S. dependence on critical agricultural inputs vulnerable to PRC coercion and to recommend mitigation measures.
Requires the Agriculture Secretary to produce an annual, classified-safe assessment for congressional agriculture committees identifying U.S. dependence on critical agricultural products and inputs that could be leveraged if the People’s Republic of China weaponizes those dependencies. The assessment must evaluate domestic production capacity and supply‑chain bottlenecks for listed inputs (equipment, fuel, fertilizers, feed, veterinary drugs and vaccines, crop protection chemicals, seed, and others the Secretary identifies) and provide mitigation recommendations developed with the U.S. Trade Representative, Commerce, and FDA. The law makes information submission voluntary, protects individually identifying data by aggregation or de‑identification, excludes trade secrets and legally protected information from reports, and limits use of the collected information to performing the required assessment and reporting to the two congressional committees.
Official title: Direct the Secretary of Agriculture to publish, on an annual basis, an assessment of United States dependency on critical agricultural products or inputs from the People's Republic of China, and for other purposes.
Introduced March 10, 2025 by John Peter Ricketts · Last progress March 10, 2025