The Wall Street Journal reports Senator Chuck Grassley and other U.S. lawmakers are pushing for USDA to have a formal role in considering ChemChina’s planned takeover of Switzerland’s Syngenta.
Grassley, a top agriculture Senator from Iowa, says the $43 billion takeover of Syngenta could pose risks to the security of America’s food supply.
Further, USDA has previously voiced concern over the deal for Syngenta, which is a top U.S. supplier of pesticides, soybean seeds and corn.
Grassley told the Wall Street Journal a bipartisan group of senators would seek a formal role for USDA as the Treasury-led Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. carries out a national security review of the proposed deal.
The committee is already expected to examine Syngenta’s U.S. chemical plants that are potential terror targets, including some near military bases.
One of those is a facility about 10 miles from Omaha, Nebraska’s Offutt Air Force Base.
Syngenta officials are convinced there is no security threat.
Syngenta and ChemChina agreed to the takeover in February.
Syngenta generates about one-quarter of its sales in North America.
