The potential acquisition of supplement chain GNC by Chinese-owned Harbin Pharmaceuticals has sparked concerns in Congress and among allies of President Trump’s “America First” trade policy, who are calling for a national security review of the deal over claims it could grant Beijing-controlled Harbin access to U.S. military bases and service members’ sensitive information.
Florida Rep. Bill Posey and the Coalition for a Prosperous America, a group that backs domestic companies and supports the Trump administration’s trade efforts, detailed their concerns in letters to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday.
Mnuchin, who leads the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, holds the authority to review foreign investments.
The Washington Examiner obtained both letters exclusively. Each is dated Sept. 3.
GNC stores are near or on dozens of military bases, such as Andrews Air Force Base, Quantico, 29 Palms, and others, the letters say. The deal would grant Harbin access to consumer data on millions of people, including thousands of members of the military.
“If this deal is completed, the Chinese owned Harbin Pharmaceuticals will have direct access to thousands of GNC stores across the country — including GNC stores located near or on dozens of prominent military bases like Andrews Air Force Base, Quantico, and 29 Palms to name a few,” wrote Daniel DiMicco, chairman of the Coalition for a Prosperous America, and CEO Michael Stumo.
“GNC maintains a large database of personal information provided voluntarily by customers as part of its sales and marketing,” DiMicco and Stumo wrote. The company’s acquisition “would literally hand over to the Chinese this personally sensitive information (PSI). Our laws specifically protect Americans from disclosure of their PSI. Disclosure of PSI to a foreign government with adversarial ambitions poses an even more dire threat.”
Posey, a Republican who represents Florida’s 8th Congressional District, serves on the House Financial Services Committee and worked on the Committee on Foreign Investment reform measures enacted by Congress in the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018.
“GNC operates retail stores on military installations, including on Patrick Air Force Base, which hosts sensitive National Aeronautics and Space Administration operations,” wrote Posey. “With the advent of the new Space Command, Patrick Air Force Base will take on even more defense critical roles. We must protect these activities from the prying of adversarial nations for either military or industrial purposes such as acquiring intellectual property outside our patent protections.”
“Foreign acquisition of critical infrastructure triggers a Committee on Foreign Investment review under the statute,” he wrote.
GNC and Harbin Pharmaceuticals received approval in 2018 for the transaction when Harbin became GNC’s majority shareholder.
Posey’s office is now calling for further review, noting the updates to the Committee on Foreign Investment enacted in 2018. “We demand a re-review,” said Communications Director and Deputy Chief of Staff George Cecala.
“We think there are national security concerns, privacy concerns, and it would be in our country’s best interests for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to review this further.”
He added: “We should be looking at these kinds of investments from China, and the public needs to be aware of it.”
GNC is engaged in a Chapter 11 restructuring. A spokesperson for the company said that the company is unable to comment on the process because it is subject to a nondisclosure agreement and not yet complete.
The Treasury Department did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
