China could be a threat to the American food supply if a regime-owned company called ChemChina is allowed to buy a Swiss-based company that makes farm chemicals and seeds, Sen. Marco Rubio warned Thursday.
“ChemChina’s acquisition of Syngenta has raised valid questions as to how Beijing, if approved, will then treat U.S. farm products. Our nation grows in population, and with it, an increased need for food security,” Rubio wrote in a letter to President Obama. “The concerns raised by many, through the lens of trade, biosecurity, food safety and our farming sector, must be properly addressed prior to approving the proposed acquisition.”
Syngenta officials predicted that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) “will not be very challenging,” but that’s exactly what Rubio wants to change. He asked Obama to task Department of Agriculture and FDA officials with joining CFIUS in the review process.
CFIUS is the committee that has the power to reject foreign investment based on national security concerns.
ChemChina agreed to pay $43 billion for Syngenta. “The Chinese have relied mainly on traditional ways of farming,” ChemChina Chairman Ren Jianxin told reporters in February. “We want to spread Syngenta’s integrated solution among smallholder farmers.”
But the CFIUS has thwarted major deals in the past, including a $3.3 billion agreement that would have allowed a Chinese group to purchase a lighting unit from Philips last month. “This is a $43 billion firm. I do not believe we are talking about basic nitrogen-based fertilizers but some very high value products,” Michael Wessel, a member of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, told Reuters. “This should be subject to strict scrutiny.”
