Oklahoma lawmakers, driven by threats from China, passed SB 212 in 2023 to restrict Chinese ownership. However, a 2024 exemption shields Smithfield, a U.S. pork giant controlling 23% of the market and 2,575 acres in Oklahoma.
However, despite these concerns, critics warn of xenophobia, and Smithfield denies any national security risks are posed by its operation. However, defenders of the new law assure the public that these changes are much needed to protect our food supply and are supported by the Constitution. Additionally, officials have indicated that the pork producer will need to undergo restructuring.
Announcing the change, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, “I’m so proud of the fact that Arkansas was the first state in the country to kick a Chinese-owned company off of our farmland and out of our state. And we made them pay for it. Very Trump-esque.”
As could be expected, responses to the big move were mixed. For example, adding more context, Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro explained that after its purchase by the Chinese holding company WH Group, [Smithfield Foods] “now basically controls an eighth of the world’s pork supply,” putting the nation at risk.
Offering another view in favor of the general ban on Chinese-owned farmland, Oklahoma State Sen. Brent Howard stated, “We’re honoring the Constitution by those international corporations being vetted by the federal government.”These comments show that conservatives are careful to balance security needs with the Constitution.
However, on the other side of things, Ray Atkinson, senior director at Smithfield Foods, expressed dissatisfaction with the decision. “We currently own approximately 85,000 acres of farmland [in the U.S.], and that number has declined considerably since the 2013 WH Group acquisition. The farmland we own does not present a national security risk and represents less than 1/100th of one percent of all American farmland,” he whined.
Pushing back on that, Brad Clark, general counsel with the Oklahoma attorney general’s office, noted “[They] needed to restructure that merger, that acquisition, so it’s highly likely that [divestment] has been involved,” adding, “The attorney general is against and will fight any individual or entity that exploits Oklahoma jobs to foreign nationalists or others who are not Oklahomans. And that would certainly include foreign adversaries like China.”
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