The US Department of Agriculture has fired 70 foreign specialists working for their countries due to the need to ensure the security of supplies to the United States.
The employees from Russia, China, North Korea and Iran have been fired, Reuters reported, citing a representative of the US Department of Agriculture.
“The US Department of Agriculture has conducted a thorough review of those authorized to work under contracts with the agency and has identified approximately 70 individuals from countries of concern“, the agency representative told the agency.
He stressed that the fired employees will no longer be able to return to projects of the US Department of Agriculture. The individuals removed worked from their home countries in the department's Agricultural Research Service, most of them employees from China.
On July 8, US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced that the United States is introducing a ban on the sale of agricultural land to China and other “foreign adversaries“.
She confirmed that the new decisions of the US administration apply not only to China, but also to other “countries of concern“. As such, Rollins named Russia, North Korea, Iran “and others“.