From unleashing the coronavirus, to controlling the social media app TikTok, or evading U.S. sanctions, Beijing has repeatedly attempted to exploit the American people. In recent years, communist leaders have looked to a dangerous new form of leverage against U.S. citizens – gaining control of our domestic agricultural and food supply chains.
There is no doubt that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is working toward a goal of global dominance. The self-described goal of China’s leaders is establishing a “Community of Common Destiny for Mankind” based on communist ideology. Leaders in Beijing are openly bent on spreading their way of life across the globe. That way of life is a direct threat to the ideals of freedom and liberty guaranteed to every American.
American freedom is the biggest roadblock to Chinese dominance. Since our founding, Advancing American Freedom has recognized the threat posed by the CCP. As former Vice President Mike Pence said in 2024, “leaders of both political parties seemed to have turned a hopeful, but ultimately blind eye to China’s many abuses on trade and beyond in the area of human rights – a misguided hope that China’s newfound prosperity would inevitably lead to liberty.”
Now that lawmakers have started to disabuse themselves of the notion that Beijing has our best interests in mind, it is time for Congress to protect our borders from CCP incursion. There are efforts already underway in China to influence and control domestic technology, manufacturing, health care, data, and especially our food supply.
Agriculture has become a major target for the Chinese in recent years. At this very moment Chinese interests are simultaneously buying American farmland, weaponizing agricultural purchases, smuggling toxic fungus into the country, and making our food supply dependent on their fertilizer chemicals.
It should be obvious to our elected officials why Beijing wants to exert control over our domestic agricultural industries. Food security is national security. The CCP is reaching into the U.S. in an effort to pull the strings on one of our most basic human needs.
In order to ensure that Beijing is unsuccessful in its attempt to control our food supply, our lawmakers must actively stop CCP incursion into America. That begins by protecting our domestic agricultural land from Chinese hands. It also means getting Chinese companies out of the agricultural industry. American farmers cannot be dependent on China.
One area where Congress is stepping up is a small but crucial section of the FY 2026 Agricultural Appropriations Act (H.R. 4754) that clarifies that pesticide labels meet the rigorous and consistent standards established by the Environmental Protection Agency. This might seem redundant and trivial, but it is key to protecting domestic fertilizer and pesticide supply chains.
The House-passed Agricultural Appropriations bill stipulates that the government shall not approve any new or alternative labeling standards that are not consistent with EPA standards. This potential patchwork of standards punishes domestic manufacturers who could be blindsided by a liberal state that enacts requirements beyond the EPA safety standards.
There are longstanding and stringent labeling guidelines established under the EPA. If environmentalists want to change these standards, then they should do so at the federal level instead of cherry-picking liberal states to enact outlandish labeling requirements.
While it may not seem like much, an inconsistent labeling standard is incredibly harmful to domestic manufacturers. If fifty new labeling standards are enacted across the country, it could open up domestic fertilizer and pesticide companies to fifty different lawsuits and make national distribution impossible. Meanwhile, Chinese companies are subject only to the consistent, national EPA standard. That is likely one reason that China is the number one fertilizer producer in the world and that 70% of pesticides come from China.
Being dependent on China for the means to grow food here in American is unacceptable. As lawmakers work to end Chinese influence in our everyday lives, even seemingly innocuous policies like the Agricultural Appropriations can have a big impact on our future. The House and Senate should adopt the bill passed out of the House Appropriations Committees and send it to President Trump for his signature.
