Moolenaar, Lawmakers Seek Answers After USDA Approves Chinese Genetically Engineered Soybeans

WASHINGTON D.C. -- Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party wrote to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, inquiring why the U.S. Department of Agriculture greenlit a Chinese agricultural biotech company with close links to the Chinese government operating in the United States. The firm, Qi Biodesign, is a company that makes genetically engineered soybean seeds and was prioritized for USDA regulatory approval ahead of many American agricultural companies that currently face extensive delays.

Select Committee Members Neal Dunn (R-FL), Dusty Johnson (SD), Ashley Hinson (R-IA), Carlos Gimenez (R-FL), and Ben Cline (R-VA) joined the letter.

The lawmakers outline a host of concerns writing, “Qi Biodesign and other PRC firms like it are directly supported by the PRC government with the explicit purpose to replicate and replace U.S. agriculture biotechnology. While the PRC is clear-eyed about its desire to never allow its agriculture industry to be reliant on foreign technology, it appears the USDA is approving PRC agriculture biotechnology without concern for U.S. supply chains or trade negotiations. USDA’s clearance of Qi Biodesign’s products undermines years of hard-nosed U.S. trade demands and could make U.S. farmers complicit in the PRC’s desire to replace them.”

In an era when the Chinese government forbids U.S. agricultural companies from operating in China, Chairman Moolenaar underscores how perplexing it is for USDA to extend these benefits to companies beholden to our chief adversary. Moreover, the decision to welcome a Chinese government-backed company that sells genetically engineered soybeans into the U.S. raises serious questions for American consumers that mistrust genetic engineering in China.

Government-backed actors from China also have a long history of stealing U.S. agricultural intellectual property, with some going as far as digging up seeds in U.S. farm fields to smuggle back to China. In light of the growing threat, Chairman Moolenaar requests the Secretary of Agriculture that immediately revisit the regulatory status review for Qi Biodesign and asks for a briefing to address the following questions:

1. What steps, if any, does USDA take to protect U.S. supply chains from foreign adversaries when making regulatory decisions?
2. What steps, if any, does USDA take to ensure reciprocity between nations prior to greenlighting another countries’ technology?
3. What was the complete timeline of USDA’s regulatory status review of Qi Biodesign products?
4. Was USDA’s completion of the regulatory status review of Qi Biodesign’s products discussed as part of the U.S.-PRC Joint Committee on Cooperation in Agriculture?
5. Did USDA consult with USTR prior to completing the review of Qi Biodesign’s products?
6. Will USDA suspend review of PRC-based company submissions until the PRC’s Phase 1 commitments in agriculture biotechnology are actually met? 

Read the lawmakers' letter to the FDA HERE.