Lawmakers have raised concerns over the recent acquisition of a Cahokia grain terminal by COFCO International Ltd, a Chinese state-run company.

U.S. Representatives Mike Bost (R-Murphysboro) and Nikki Budzinski (D-Springfield) sent a letter last week to U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, chair of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, calling for an immediate review of the acquisition to weigh the consequences for America’s national security and the region’s agricultural economy. 

“China is attempting to buy up America’s commercial infrastructure and farmland at a breakneck pace. The economic and national security implications are far too great to allow that to happen,” said Bost. “Rep. Budzinski and I are demanding a timely review of this transfer because federal officials need to understand how it will impact the safety and security of the American people, especially here in Southern Illinois.”

 Budzinski offered similar sentiments.

“As the Chinese Communist Party tries to strengthen its grip on the means of American agricultural production and commerce, we must push back,” said Budzinski. “I urge the committee to take a serious look at the scope and implications this transaction could have on our national security and on the Heartland’s agricultural economy.” 

COFCO is shorthand for the China Oil and FoodStuffs Corp., a Chinese state-owned entity and one of the largest food-processing companies in the world.

COFCO and Illinois-based Growmark Inc. announced a deal in which Growmark will sell its minority stake to COFCO in a grain-loading facility in Cahokia. The facility has access to all seven Class I railroads and can accept four unit trains at a time. 

It is considered a “high-speed rail and truck-to-barge facility,” the companies stated.

In return, Growmark will purchase COFCO’s ownership in the Chicago grain warehouse facility known as the B-House on the Calumet River.

COFCO and Growmark have partnered at the Cahokia facility since 2017. At the time, the companies stated the facility could receive 180,000 bushels of corn per hour and load to river barges at the same time at a rate of 60,000 bushels an hour. 

The deal offered Growmark an opportunity to sell more grain into China.

China bought $29 billion in U.S. agricultural products in 2023 and has purchased $9.8 billion in goods from Jan. 1 through April, according to the Foreign Agricultural Service.