China’s War on American Agriculture Exposed

China’s War on American Agriculture Exposed

The America First Policy Institute hosted a timely and urgent one-on-one interview at AFPI Studios with Congressman Zach Nunn (IA-03), who sat down with Adam Savit to expose how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is waging a silent war on America’s food security, farmland, and agricultural innovation.

As a member of the House Select Committee on the CCP and a former military counterintelligence officer, Congressman Nunn offered firsthand insight into how America’s adversaries are targeting our supply chains—not with bullets, but with espionage, cyberattacks, and biological threats.

KEY SPEAKERS & HIGHLIGHTS

The interview began with host Adam Savit welcoming Congressman Nunn to AFPI’s newly launched studio space:

“Congressman Nunn is on the front lines of defending not only our land—but the security of every American family’s dinner table.”
— Adam Savit

CONGRESSMAN ZACH NUNN, IA-03
In a candid and powerful discussion, Nunn outlined the CCP’s growing efforts to disrupt U.S. agriculture from within:

“They’re not just buying up farmland. They’re infiltrating our supply chains, stealing our ag technology, and bringing in pathogens that could wipe out entire harvests.”
— Rep. Zach Nunn

He described how, even during his time in the Iowa legislature, Chinese nationals were caught physically stealing genetically modified corn from test fields—literally scooping biotech property into their pockets to smuggle overseas. And now, the threats have grown more severe.

In one of the most alarming revelations of the interview, Nunn detailed how Chinese individuals recently entered the U.S. carrying agricultural pathogens, with the apparent goal of disrupting food production across the Midwest.

To confront this threat, he introduced the PLANT Act (Preventing Lethal Agricultural and National Threats)—a bill that categorizes this infiltration as agro-terrorism and establishes criminal penalties of up to 20 years in prison for perpetrators.

“This isn’t espionage lite—this is biological warfare with no shots fired. And it's happening right now on American soil.”
— Rep. Zach Nunn

HIGHER EDUCATION: A CCP BACKDOOR

Nunn also warned that the CCP is exploiting America’s universities to further its objectives. Through academic partnerships, propaganda, and student visa loopholes, adversaries are pilfering U.S. research and bypassing traditional security safeguards.

“Too many of our institutions have been misled into working with the CCP, whether through ignorance or influence. It’s time to shut down these backdoors into our country.”
— Rep. Zach Nunn

He described programs where Chinese nationals—often with families held hostage back home—are compelled to steal intellectual property, with their knowledge funneled directly into the People’s Liberation Army after returning to China.

POLICY WINS & FORWARD MOMENTUM

• Introduction of the PLANT Act to criminalize agro-terrorism and hold foreign actors accountable
• Public exposure of CCP infiltration through U.S. university partnerships
• Legislative push to close student visa loopholes used for espionage
• Strengthened collaboration across DOJ, DHS, and USDA to defend U.S. agriculture
• Renewed emphasis on counterintelligence and biosecurity as critical national priorities

THE VERDICT: A NATION-WIDE CALL TO ACTION

As Congressman Nunn emphasized in closing:

“This is a fifth column operating inside the United States. We need a full-throttle response—across law enforcement, intelligence, and agriculture—to shut it down before it’s too late.”