The U.S. House passed legislation to protect U.S. farmland from ownership by foreign adversaries. The Protecting U.S. Agriculture From Foreign Adversaries Act would give USDA’s Secretary a permanent seat on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. or ‘CFIUS’, requiring reporting when China, Russia, North Korea, or Iran buy U.S. farmland.
The bill is sponsored by Washington State Republican Dan Newhouse. The Senate has a similar bill. Rural New York Representative Nick Langworthy managed initial floor action on the House measure.
Langworthy says the issue is personal for him in his own district.
Not parceled out, Langworthy says, to entities of the Chinese Communist Party.
China’s U.S. farmland holdings amount to several hundred thousand acres or less than one percent of foreign-owned farmland. But China’s purchases near sensitive U.S. military sites have become a growing security concern for officials and lawmakers.
