COLUMBUS, Ohio — Republican representatives introduced House Bill 1 earlier this year, and the legislation is currently in public safety committee.

What You Need To Know

  • House Bill 1, also known as the Ohio Property Protection Act, is currently in House Committee

  • It prohibits people, governments and businesses from "foreign adversarial nations” from buying some property within the state

  • This comes amid a tense geopolitical moment as a trade war continues escalating between the United States and China

The legislation is also known as the Ohio Property Protection Act and would prohibit some governments, businesses and people from acquiring certain property in Ohio. The bill was primarily sponsored by Rep. Angela King, R-District 84, and Roy Klopfenstein, R-District 82.

“We are already seeing foreign adversaries trying to move into Ohio,” Rep. King said in a press release. “Fufeng USA, a Chinese based company, has already attempted to purchase land in Paulding County. This company has also attempted to purchase land just 15 miles away from Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota. The sale was denied because the assistant secretary of the Air Force labeled the sale a ‘significant threat to national security.’”

Businesses with direct or indirect ownership from “a foreign adversarial nation” would not be allowed to buy land “within 25 miles of critical infrastructure and military installations” in the state, according to the release.

This legislation comes amid a tense geopolitcal moment. China again vowed to "fight to the end" Wednesday in an escalating trade war with the U.S. as it announced it would raise tariffs on American goods to 84% from Thursday.

President Donald Trump also announced on Wednesday that he was pausing import taxes he'd placed on most countries for 90 days, with the exception of China. Stocks soared as a result of the decision to pause.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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