II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5277 

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to publish, on an annual basis, an 

assessment of United States dependency on critical agricultural products 

or inputs from the People’s Republic of China, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 25, 2024 

Mr. RICKETTS (for himself, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BRAUN, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. 

CORNYN, Mrs. CAPITO, Mrs. FISCHER, Ms. LUMMIS, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. 

RISCH, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, and Mr. SCHMITT) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to publish, on an 

annual basis, an assessment of United States dependency 

on critical agricultural products or inputs from the People’s Republic of China, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Securing American Ag5 riculture Act’’. 


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•S 5277 IS

1 SEC. 2. CRITICAL AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS OR INPUTS 

2 STUDY. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—On an annual basis, the Secretary 

4 of Agriculture (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Sec5 retary’’) shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture, 

6 Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee 

7 on Agriculture of the House of Representatives an assess8 ment of the dependency of the United States on critical 

9 agricultural products or inputs that could be exploited in 

10 the event the People’s Republic of China weaponizes any 

11 such dependency. 

12 (b) CONTENTS.—Each report under subsection (a) 

13 shall— 

14 (1) address, with respect to the critical inputs 

15 described in subsection (c)— 

16 (A) the current domestic production capac17 ity of each such critical input; and 

18 (B) the current and potential bottlenecks 

19 in the supply chain for each such critical input 

20 that could be exploited by the People’s Republic 

21 of China; and 

22 (2) contain the recommendations of the Sec23 retary, in consultation with the United States Trade 

24 Representative, the Secretary of Commerce, and the 

25 Commissioner of Food and Drugs, to reduce the de26 pendency of the United States on the People’s ReVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 Oct 12, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5277.IS S5277

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•S 5277 IS

1 public of China to supply critical agricultural prod2 ucts or inputs, including recommendations— 

3 (A) to mitigate potential threats posed by 

4 the People’s Republic of China to the supply 

5 chains of each critical input described in sub6 section (c); and 

7 (B) for legislative and regulatory actions to 

8 reduce barriers to onshore or nearshore produc9 tion of each such critical input. 

10 (c) CRITICAL INPUTS.—The critical inputs referred 

11 to in subsection (b) include all farm management, agro12 nomic, and field-applied production inputs, including each 

13 of the following: 

14 (1) Agricultural equipment, machinery, and 

15 technology. 

16 (2) Fuel. 

17 (3) Fertilizers. 

18 (4) Feed, including its components, such as vi19 tamins, amino acids, and minerals. 

20 (5) Veterinary drugs and vaccines. 

21 (6) Crop protection chemicals. 

22 (7) Seed. 

23 (8) Any other critical agricultural inputs, as de24 termined by the Secretary. 


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•S 5277 IS

1 (d) COLLECTION, DISTRIBUTION, AND PROTECTION

2 OF INFORMATION.— 

3 (1) VOLUNTARY BASIS.—In conducting an as4 sessment under subsection (a), the Secretary shall 

5 not require any private entity to provide information 

6 to the Secretary. 

7 (2) AGGREGATE DATA.—In the case of informa8 tion provided to the Secretary to conduct an assess9 ment under subsection (a), the Secretary, any other 

10 officer or employee of the Department of Agriculture 

11 or agency thereof, or any other person shall not— 

12 (A) use that information for a purpose 

13 other than the development or reporting of ag14 gregate data in a manner such that the identity 

15 of the person that supplied the information is 

16 not— 

17 (i) discernible; or 

18 (ii) material to the intended uses of 

19 the information; or 

20 (B) disclose that information to the public, 

21 unless the information has been transformed 

22 into a statistical or aggregate form that does 

23 not allow the identification of the person that 

24 supplied particular information. 


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1 (3) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The Secretary shall 

2 ensure that the assessments under subsection (a) do 

3 not include any information that is a trade secret or 

4 confidential information subject to— 

5 (A) section 552(b)(4) of title 5, United 

6 States Code; or 

7 (B) section 1905 of title 18, United States 

8 Code. 

9 (4) IMMUNITY FROM DISCLOSURE.—Informa10 tion provided to the Secretary as part of an assess11 ment conducted under subsection (a) shall not be 

12 used by the Secretary for any purpose other than to 

13 carry out that subsection. 

Æ 


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