Yesterday, I testified on “Safeguarding the Homeland: Examining Conflicts of Interest in Federal Contracting to Protect America’s Future,” including comments on the Time to Choose Act of 2024, sponsored by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO). This bill would prevent U.S. consulting firms that contract with China’s government from also contracting with the U.S. government. Sen. Hawley has issued a press release that misrepresented my comments: “Hawley Blasts McKinsey’s Ties to China, Rebukes Witness for Equating Consulting Firms with Soybean Farmers.”
According to his press release, “Senator Hawley also pushed back against Bryan Riley, Director of the National Taxpayers Union’s Free Trade Initiative, and his comparison of American soybean farmers to U.S. consulting firms advising the Chinese Communist Party.” That is a misrepresentation of my comments, which instead warned about the risk that others might make such a comparison in the future.
At the hearing, Sen. Hawley asked, “Is your position that you are opposed to . . . you want companies to be able to get taxpayer money from the United States and simultaneously get money from the Chinese government?” Here’s what I warned in my written testimony: “Such legislation could represent a slippery slope leading to further restrictions. For example, China is the largest export market for U.S. agricultural producers. This does not mean that it would be wise for the government to require farmers to choose between contracting with the government to provide food for school lunch programs or continuing to export to China.”
Sen. Hawley asked: “Are you saying that soybean farmers harm the security interests of the United States?” In fact, I was warning that soybean farmers should be protected against such allegations. What if some Senator in the future decides that soybean exporters should not be able to get taxpayer money from the United States and simultaneously get money from the Chinese government via state-owned enterprises?
As I said yesterday, we need to have guardrails to make sure that our soybean farmers and other producers aren’t harmed like they have been in recent years by our trade policy. Referring to tariffs that have been imposed on U.S. allies like Israel and the UK based on far-fetched national security allegations, I asked, “How do you know that’s not going to happen again?”
These concerns are not just hypothetical. Farmers still have not recovered from U.S. Section 301 tariffs and the resulting Chinese retaliation. U.S. soybean exports to China were 5.3 million metric tons lower in 2023 than in 2017, a 16.7 percent drop. As the president of the Missouri Soybean Association wrote in 2018: “Farmers have invested significantly in developing their international markets for soybean, including China, and should not bear the brunt of discord on China’s policies.”
For further clarification, see my written testimony or my comments at the hearing, including the exchange with Sen. Hawley.