Knee-deep in the process of passing its version of the annual defense spending and policy bill, the Senate this week signed off on an effort to bar China and three other countries from buying U.S. farmland.
The move, in part to curtail China’s intelligence gathering capabilities, comes at a particularly tense time between the U.S. and Beijing. In February of this year, the U.S. shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon flying over U.S. airspace and in June, news of a Chinese spy base in Cuba became public.
The provision specifically would require review of agricultural transactions by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), a government agency committee tasked with evaluating the national security implications of certain transactions involving foreign investment.
Sales determined to result in control of U.S. farmland or an agricultural business by a foreign adversary would be prohibited. The four countries considered foreign adversaries are China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.
The provision would also add the Secretary of Agriculture to CFIUS in a bid to add representation of agricultural interests to the committee.
“China and Russia are our near-peer adversaries and North Korea and Iran are no friends of the United States,” Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., who offered the amendment, said in a statement. “These four adversaries view America as their top competitor and only wish to gain advantage and opportunities to surveil our nation’s capabilities and resources.”
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, foreign persons held an interest in 40 million acres of U.S. agricultural land as of Dec. 2021, amounting to 3.1% of all privately held farmland. The USDA reports China in particular held about 383,935 acres.
The measure, which passed with broad bipartisan support in a vote of 91-7 on Tuesday, was included as an amendment to the Senate’s National Defense Authorization Act, the sweeping must-pass bill that determines defense spending and policy.
To become law, it would still need to pass the House, which narrowly signed off on its own version of the annual defense bill earlier this month after intense debates. That bill, which includes several Republican-backed amendments focused on social issues, needs to be reconciled with the Democratic-controlled Senate’s bill.
Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., who has led several efforts to address this issue, expressed optimism about the passage of the amendment in the Senate.
“I have been leading this effort in Congress for the past few years, and I am encouraged by the support of my colleagues in both chambers who recognize the severity of this pressing issue right here at home,” Newhouse said in a statement to Spectrum News.
Earlier this year, he introduced a bill in the House banning foreign nationals associated with the People’s Republic of China from buying U.S. agricultural land and in June, he offered an amendment to restrict China, Russia, North Korea and Iran from doing so.
"The Chinese Communist Party and other adversarial nations will take every opportunity to threaten our democracy, our republic, and our way of life, including our agricultural supply chains," Newhouse added.
Newhouse also teamed up with Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis. chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, and others to introduce a bill expanding the reach of CFIUS to include all potential land purchases in the U.S. by foreign adversaries.
“This bill gives CFIUS jurisdiction over foreign adversary real estate transactions to guard against the threat of the CCP and other adversaries purchasing land for malign purposes,” Gallagher said in a statement regarding the bill.