Chinese-Owned Smithfield and Syngenta Spent $26 Million Influencing U.S. Farm Policy While Hiding CCP Ties

Smithfield Foods and Syngenta, two Chinese-owned agricultural businesses, have spent more than $26 million combined in federal lobbying and political contributions, according to a new report by the Center for Responsible Food Business. The two corporations are linked with the Chinese Communist Party, and the CRFB report describes how they have failed to disclose their foreign ownership.

Smithfield Foods is the largest pork producer in the US and has been controlled by China’s WH Group, which owns an 87% share, since a 2013 acquisition. WH Group’s chairman Wan Long is a CCP member and former People’s Liberation Army officer. Smithfield operates more than 1,700 sites across 27 states and owns approximately 87,000 acres of US farmland.

Syngenta is a leading producer of pesticides, seeds, and agricultural technology. It was acquired in 2017 by ChemChina for $43 billion and is now fully owned by Sinochem Holdings, a Chinese state-owned enterprise led by a CCP secretary. The Pentagon has listed ChemChina as a Chinese military company since 2022. Syngenta produces atrazine, which is classified by the World Health Organization as a probable carcinogen and is banned in dozens of countries. 70 million pounds of the chemical are used annually across the US on crops like corn, sorghum, and sugarcane. Syngenta also manufactured paraquat until it ceased production on June 30, 2026.

The two companies spent about $24.2 million on federal lobbying since they were taken over by CCP-linked entities, with about $15.2 million from Smithfield and $9 million from Syngenta. The funds have targeted the Farm Bill, foreign ownership of US farmland, pesticide regulation, and other agricultural issues. At least 139 serving members of Congress accepted PAC contributions from these companies after they were taken over by CCP-linked companies, including 39 members who accepted money from both companies. The chairs of the House and Senate Agricultural Committees, Glenn “GT” Thompson of Pennsylvania and Senator John Boozman of Arkansas, both accepted money from these corporations.

Both companies repeatedly failed to comply with the Lobbying Disclosure Act, which requires companies to disclose foreign ownership that has a significant interest in the issues being lobbied. Smithfield completed 29 consecutive reports from 2019 through 2026 and either left the line blank or said “none” while they were actively lobbying on the Farm Bill and farmland ownership. Syngenta had the same pattern dating back to 2017. CRFB filed a formal complaint in August 2026, and the Smithfield lobbying firm Greenberg Traurig amended a report to list WH Group, but later removed the disclosure. Syngenta also provided a $250,000 corporate contribution to the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee.

Smithfield has lobbied for federal laws to override animal welfare laws such as California’s Proposition 12, which voters approved in 2018 and enacted in 2022. The law requires breeding pigs to have a minimum of 24 square feet, enough for them to lie down, stand up, fully extend their limbs, and turn around freely. Typical gestational crates are only two by seven feet or 14 square feet, so they are effectively outlawed under California law.

USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins expressed her support for the EATS Act that would have effectively overturned California’s animal welfare law, but the bill never made it to a floor vote. The pork lobby, including Smithfield, also challenged Proposition 12 as a violation of the Dormant Commerce Clause, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the state’s favor. The lobbyists continue to push for federal legislation to override state animal welfare laws like Prop 12 in California.

“China is working tirelessly to dominate the American and global food supplies, buying up animals, farmland, seeds, pesticides and agricultural technology,” said Taylor Warren, president of CRFB. “That’s how it protects its own food security and gains leverage over the U.S. and its other rivals. That’s why a Chinese company bought Smithfield, America’s largest pork producer. Now China-owned Smithfield is lobbying Congress in order to override state laws passed by voters and give a China-owned company more control of our pork market. Our report shows how Smithfield’s influence operation has gotten even so-called China hawks to vote against American farmers and consumers, and for the CCP’s interests. All while Smithfield’s lobbyists hide the company’s ties to China.”

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has also approved two of Syngenta’s pesticides – cyclobutrifluram and isocycloseram. The HighWire reported earlier this week about the two different definitions of PFAS “forever chemicals” and how the EPA says PFAS chemicals contain at least two or more fluorinated carbons. Under this definition, the Trump administration hasn’t approved any PFAS pesticides, but under the OECD definition, the administration has approved five, including these two manufactured by CCP-linked corporation Syngenta.

The CRFB report also references the National Farm Security Action Plan announced by Secretary Rollins on July 8, 2025. This is a plan to “claw back” US farmland owned by foreign entities, including Syngenta and Smithfield. The report says the administration has taken no action to take back farmland from either company since the announcement more than a year ago. Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, however, fined Syngenta Seed $280,000 for failing to report Chinese ownership of 160 acres in Craighead County and ordered the land be sold under the state’s ban on Chinese farmland ownership.

“Americans deserve to know that Chinese-owned agribusiness giants Smithfield and Syngenta are spending big in Washington to influence ag policy and tighten their grip on our food supply,” Warren said. “But our new investigation found that Smithfield and Syngenta’s lobbyists have systematically hidden how China stands to benefit from their lobbying on the Farm Bill, pesticide regulation, and foreign ownership of U.S. farmland. Every sitting lawmaker who took campaign cash from these companies’ PACs should show their constituents they put Americans first by returning that money, and Congress should refer the companies’ lobbyists who hid their Chinese ties to the Justice Department.”