Last week, the U.S. Government indicted Chinese government hackers on charges of stealing trade secrets, claiming that the espionage has gone too far. When it comes to intellectual property, the internet isn’t the only place the Chinese are looking for U.S. trade secrets.
In December, Robert Mo, a Chinese citizen living in the United States was arrested on charges of stealing trade secrets from Iowa’s corn fields. He, along with five others, are accused of swiping seeds from seed corn in fields in Iowa, Illinois and Missouri. This hour on River to River, we’ll get a update on Mr. Mo’s case and will take a look at Iowa’s economic ties with China. Does an incident like this threaten Iowa’s agricultural relationship with the country?
Jacob Bungee, an agribusiness reporter with the Wall Street Journal's Chicago Bureau; Tim Burrack, an farmer based in Fayette County, Iowa; and Dermot Hayes, Professor of Economics, Finance and Agribusiness at Iowa State University join the conversation.
