The Trump administration is drawing a firm line in the soil, launching an aggressive new plan to keep America’s farmland and its food supply out of the hands of foreign adversaries, particularly China.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins took center stage Tuesday morning to unveil the National Farm Security Action Plan, a sweeping, multi-agency strategy aimed at preventing hostile entities from snapping up U.S. agricultural land and infiltrating the country’s research systems.
“American agriculture is not just about feeding our families but about protecting our nation and standing up to foreign adversaries who are buying our farmland, stealing our research, and creating dangerous vulnerabilities in the very systems that sustain us,” Rollins said.
Farm Security Meets National Defense
Standing beside Rollins were key members of President Trump’s national security team, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and White House trade adviser Peter Navarro underscoring just how seriously the administration views the matter.
At the heart of the newly announced initiative: a decisive ban on farmland purchases by “foreign countries of concern,” including China. The plan also targets foreign syndicates involved in bio-material smuggling and espionage threats the administration says have already taken root inside America’s borders.
Cutting Ties and Clawing Back Control
Rollins revealed she signed a memo Tuesday morning canceling USDA contracts and research agreements with 70 foreign nationals linked to adversarial nations. “We are working to issue regulatory action to remove over 550 entities from foreign countries of concern from our preferred catalog,” she said.
The USDA will soon roll out a dedicated online portal where farmers, landowners, and researchers can report possible violations or shady land deals under the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act.
The action plan outlines seven key areas of focus, according to the USDA website. These include:
- Cracking down on foreign land ownership
- Increasing penalties for noncompliance
- Boosting transparency
- Fortifying domestic investment in agriculture
- Combating biological threats
- Shielding U.S. research and infrastructure
- Aligning policy with the America First agenda
Not Just Prevention—Retribution
The administration is also looking in the rearview mirror intent on reversing previous deals that handed U.S. land to foreign powers.
Rollins didn’t mince words: “The Trump administration would use presidential authorities to ‘claw back what has already been purchased by China and other foreign adversaries.’”
According to the USDA’s Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act report, nearly 45 million acres of U.S. farmland are already owned by foreign interests, with hundreds of thousands of those acres under Chinese control as of December 2023.
Biothreat Crackdown Ramps Up
A separate but closely tied mission in the action plan is an aggressive crackdown on biological smuggling and agricultural espionage.
Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed that two individuals recently arrested for attempting to smuggle bio-material into the U.S. had ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
“It’s going to stop. FBI has opened over 100 bio-smuggling investigations in recent years,” Bondi declared.
She also addressed an alarming rise in toxic chemical trafficking, particularly across the southern border. “Illegal and highly toxic chemicals from Mexico were smuggled into the U.S.,” she noted, emphasizing that “the Department of Justice is prioritizing the arrest of those illegal aliens doing it.”
Swift Action Promised
Rollins emphasized the urgency of collaboration between federal agencies, state leaders, and Congress to pass legislation that will stop “countries of concern or other foreign adversaries” from further acquisitions of farmland. The Trump administration is ready to use executive power where needed, and fast.
“We are working to issue regulatory action to remove over 550 entities from foreign countries of concern from our preferred catalog,” she repeated for emphasis.
What Comes Next?
As farmland becomes the latest battleground in America’s broader geopolitical standoff with China, the administration is signaling that the era of unchecked foreign ownership, and hidden threats buried deep within the agriculture sector is over.
And if Tuesday’s announcement is any indication, the fight for America’s soil is just beginning.
