The biological pathogen federal authorities accuse two Chinese nationals of smuggling into the U.S. was not likely an act of "agroterrorism," according to experts.

The charges come amid heightened political tensions between the two countries and as the Trump administration moves to revoke visas from visiting Chinese students.

Two Chinese researchers were charged with smuggling a fungus classified “as a potential agroterrorism weapon” that could decimate crops and impact human health into the US last summer in a wad of tissues,