Securing American Agriculture Act

Bill: 118-s-5277
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Ricketts, Pete [R-NE]
Introduced: 2024-09-25
Policy area: Agriculture and Food
Latest action: action_date: 2024-09-25
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

Summaries:
action_date: 2024-09-25
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><strong>Securing American Agriculture Act</strong></p><p>This bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to assess, on an annual basis, U.S. dependency on critical agricultural products or inputs that could be exploited in the event that China weaponizes such a dependency.&nbsp;USDA must submit a report to Congress on the assessment, which must&nbsp;include recommendations to reduce U.S. dependency on China to supply critical agricultural products or inputs.&nbsp;</p><p>Under the bill, critical inputs include all farm management, agronomic, and field-applied production inputs (e.g., agricultural equipment, fertilizers, veterinary drugs, and seed).</p><p>The bill specifies that, in conducting the assessment, USDA may not require a private entity to provide information to USDA. Further, the bill requires USDA to comply with certain confidentiality requirements and restricts disclosures of the information.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

tv_txt: II 118th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 5277 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. Short title This Act may be cited as the Securing American Agriculture Act . 2. Critical agricultural products or inputs study (a) In general On an annual basis, the Secretary of Agriculture (referred to in this section as the Secretary ) shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives an assessment of the dependency of the United States on critical agricultural products or inputs that could be exploited in the event the People’s Republic of China weaponizes any such dependency. (b) Contents Each report under subsection (a) shall— (1) address, with respect to the critical inputs described in subsection (c)— (A) the current domestic production capacity of each such critical input; and (B) the current and potential bottlenecks in the supply chain for each such critical input that could be exploited by the People’s Republic of China; and (2) contain the recommendations of the Secretary, in consultation with the United States Trade Representative, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Commissioner of Food and Drugs, to reduce the dependency of the United States on the People’s Republic of China to supply critical agricultural products or inputs, including recommendations— (A) to mitigate potential threats posed by the People’s Republic of China to the supply chains of each critical input described in subsection (c); and (B) for legislative and regulatory actions to reduce barriers to onshore or nearshore production of each such critical input. (c) Critical inputs The critical inputs referred to in subsection (b) include all farm management, agronomic, and field-applied production inputs, including each of the following: (1) Agricultural equipment, machinery, and technology. (2) Fuel. (3) Fertilizers. (4) Feed, including its components, such as vitamins, amino acids, and minerals. (5) Veterinary drugs and vaccines. (6) Crop protection chemicals. (7) Seed. (8) Any other critical agricultural inputs, as determined by the Secretary. (d) Collection, distribution, and protection of information (1) Voluntary basis In conducting an assessment under subsection (a), the Secretary shall not require any private entity to provide information to the Secretary. (2) Aggregate data In the case of information provided to the Secretary to conduct an assessment under subsection (a), the Secretary, any other officer or employee of the Department of Agriculture or agency thereof, or any other person shall not— (A) use that information for a purpose other than the development or reporting of aggregate data in a manner such that the identity of the person that supplied the information is not— (i) discernible; or (ii) material to the intended uses of the information; or (B) disclose that information to the public, unless the information has been transformed into a statistical or aggregate form that does not allow the identification of the person that supplied particular information. (3) Confidentiality The Secretary shall ensure that the assessments under subsection (a) do not include any information that is a trade secret or confidential information subject to— (A) section 552(b)(4) of title 5, United States Code; or (B) section 1905 of title 18, United States Code. (4) Immunity from disclosure Information provided to the Secretary as part of an assessment conducted under subsection (a) shall not be used by the Secretary for any purpose other than to carry out that subsection.