A United States senator has warned Chinese garlic is a national security risk to Americans and called for an investigation into the food item.
近日，美国共和党参议员里克·斯科特致信美国商务部，称从中国进口的大蒜影响了美国国家安全，呼吁美国政府展开调查。
Republican Senator Rick Scott has urged members of congress to act against the unsafe Chinese garlic, which he believes the country is "dumping" onto Americans. He said garlic products were flagged as in a state of unsanitary conditions.
斯科特敦促国会议员对中国大蒜采取行动，还指责中国对美国“倾销”大蒜。斯科特在信中称，中国种植大蒜的方法不安全、不卫生。
China has been the biggest exporter of garlic to the US for a number of years in a controversial and ongoing trade deal. But Senator Scott believes it is all part of a heavy tariffs plan from China to freeze the garlic market in the US, with increased tariffs seen under the Trump Administration.
报道称，中国是世界上最大的大蒜出口国，美国则是主要消费国，多年来这项贸易一直受到争议。但参议员斯科特认为，这是中国冻结美国大蒜市场的高额关税计划的一部分，特朗普政府将提高关税。
A letter written by the Senator showed his concerns, referring to "well documented" practices China allegedly deploys to get their mass garlic trade into the US. He has also called for the Department of Commerce to take action under a specific law which allows the investigation into imports relating to the security of the US, the BBC reported. He wrote: "All grades of garlic, whole or separated into cloves, whether or not peeled, chilled, fresh, frozen, provisionally preserved or packed in water or other neutral substance."
参议员写的一封信表达了他的担忧，中国为向美国倾销大蒜而采取“有据可查”的做法。据英国广播公司报道，他还呼吁商务部采取法律行动，对涉及美国安全的进口产品进行调查。他说，所有等级的大蒜，无论是整个大蒜，还是分离的大蒜，无论是否去皮、冷藏、新鲜、冷冻、临时保存或包装在水或其他中性物质中的大蒜。
Senator Scott argues all types of garlic should be looked into and that there is an "existential emergency" brewing in the garlic trade between the US and China. He added: "Food safety and security is an existential emergency that poses grave threats to our national security, public health, and economic prosperity." But previous research into the garlic trade found "No evidence" of sewage fertilisation being used by Chinese garlic farmers. A scientist has since suggested sewage fertilizer could even be "safer" than first thought.
斯科特认为，所有大蒜都应该被调查，美国和中国之间的大蒜贸易正在酝酿一场“生死存亡的紧急事件”。他补充说：“食品安全和保障是事关存亡的紧急情况，对我们的国家安全、公共卫生和经济繁荣构成严重威胁。”但此前对大蒜贸易的研究发现，“没有证据”表明中国大蒜种植者使用污水施肥。一位科学家后来提出，污水肥料甚至可能比最初想象的“更安全”。
东方卫视记者：据报道，美国国会联邦参议员斯科特日前发布声明称，中国产大蒜对美国食品安全构成“极大威胁”，要求将中国大蒜列入“使用童工或强迫劳动生产的商品清单”并发起301调查。美国国会众议院已经审议通过的“2025财年国防授权法案”中，也包括要求美军商店禁止销售中国大蒜的条款。中方对此有何评论？
Dragon TV: It’s reported that US Senator Rick Scott released a statement this week saying that garlic grown in China poses “major threat” to food safety in the US and requesting to include garlic from China in the List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor and initiate Section 301 investigation. The US House of Representatives has passed the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2025, which includes a ban on Chinese garlic in military stores. What’s China’s comment?
毛宁：不知道你有没有注意到，美国有关政客的谎言谬论已经引发了中国网民的群嘲。相信大蒜做梦也没有想到，竟能对美国产生“极大威胁”。从无人机到起重机，从冰箱到大蒜，被美国扣上“国家安全风险”帽子的中国产品越来越多，但是美方所谓的证据和理由哪一条能经得起检验？世人看得很清楚，这些不过是美国大搞保护主义，滥用国家力量遏制打压中国发展，强推“脱钩断链”的幌子罢了。
Mao Ning: I wonder if you saw online the response of Chinese net users to this US politician’s statement, how they laughed at this absurd accusation. I don’t think it could ever occur to garlic that it would pose a “major threat” to the US. From drones to cranes, from refrigerators to garlic, more and more Chinese-made products have been accused by the US of “posing national security risks.” But has the US shown any reliable evidence or rationale to back up those accusations? They are apparently just a way to justify US protectionism and abuse of state power to contain China’s development and push for decoupling and severing of supply chains.
我想强调的是，泛化国家安全概念，将经贸科技问题政治化、武器化，只会加剧全球产供链安全风险，最终损人害己。奉劝美方一些政客多些理性常识，免得贻笑大方。
Let me stress that overstretching the concept of national security and politicizing and weaponizing trade and tech issues will only heighten security risks in the global industrial and supply chains. This will do no one good. We urge some US politicians to gain some rationality and common knowledge, to avoid exposing themselves to public ridicule.
针对美国政客日前发表的涉华大蒜荒唐言论，中国外交部发言人林剑发文回击了。
12月14日，林剑在社交平台“X”（原推特）上发布了一张图片，其中代表的美国的山姆大叔以吸血鬼形象出现，他试图翻动面前的植物，不料却发现了几头大蒜，立刻露出了十分惊恐的表情。
“一些美国政客声称中国大蒜对美国的食品安全构成巨大威胁。而中国网民认为，只有吸血鬼才怕大蒜。”林剑在推文中写道，“你同意谁的观点？”
相关报道：
WASHINGTON (CBS12) — Something stinks with the garlic being imported from China, Senator Rick Scott suspects. In a trio of letters sent to high-ranking officials in the Biden administration, the Florida Senator urges their respective agencies to investigate the production of the popular plant.
In one letter, Scott cited reports of Chinese agricultural practices that contaminate soil and would use human waste as fertilizer, which he noted is also referred to as night soil. He said methods used by farmers in the Asian nation “often fall short of acceptable standards.”
“We have already seen numerous instances of Chinese food products, such as fish, chicken, and even baby formula, causing harm to consumers in the U.S.,” Scott wrote in the letter addressed to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. He further alleged China had broken international food safety agreements, including by not allowing U.S. inspectors into its facilities, a problem he says was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
China produces an overwhelming share of the world’s garlic, producing over 21 million tons of it in 2022, according to data provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
