A powerful and bipartisan group of senior U.S. Senators are calling on the Chinese government to lift barriers on agricultural imports following the release of a report that found American farmers lose billions of dollars each year due to Chinese trade barriers.

Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Max Baucus (D-MT) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) are demanding that Chinese officials remove the barriers, allowing the country to come into compliance with World Trade Organization rules.

“In joining the World Trade Organization, China committed to adhering to international trade rules,” Grassley said in a statement. “These rules include eliminating non-tariff trade barriers that have no basis in science or that exist just to prop up a domestic industry at the exclusion of trade partners.”

Because of a combination of non-tariff trade barriers and other, more straightforward measures used to discourage imports of agricultural products, the U.S. industry loses up to $5.2 billion each year.

China’s ban on beef alone costs U.S. cattle farmers $3.1 billion annually.

“China is our number one market for U.S. agricultural product exports, but China’s unjustified trade barriers are blocking some of our goods such as wheat and beef and hurting job growth in the U.S,” Baucus said in a statement.

“We need to hold China accountable to its international agreements so American ranchers and farmers can compete on a level playing field with their world-class, safe agricultural products.”

China effectively bans strawberries, apples and potatoes, among other things. China also uses a whole host of tariffs, quotas and other means to keep U.S. agricultural products out of the market.

Not surprisingly, the report found that for all their patriotism and pride in their country, Chinese citizens would much rather eat imported food. Not only do they recognize the higher quality, they tend to have more confidence in the safety of imported food – especially given China’s poor track record in that area.

“It is imperative that China drop these barriers and further open its market to American agricultural goods,” Hatch said.

“Over the coming months, I will review China’s progress in further opening its market to U.S. agricultural products consistent with its international obligations.”

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