Republican Senators have reintroduced legislation that prohibits China from purchasing U.S. land.
Sens. Tom Cotton (R-AR), Katie Britt (R-AL), and Kevin Cramer (R- ND) reintroduced the Not One More Inch or Acre Act, which allows the “President to take such actions as may be necessary to prohibit the purchase of public or private real estate located in the United States by citizens and entities of the People’s Republic of China, and for other purposes.”
The bill bans Chinese citizens and entities from purchasing U.S. real estate and demands that any property currently owned by China and considered a national security risk be sold. Those who fail to comply with USDA reporting requirements will be penalized.
Cotton said that the Chinese Communist Party has been “gobbling up American farmland and real estate” for decades.
“At best, this submits American land and resources to China’s best interests, not America’s—at worst, these purchases serve as outposts for Chinese espionage campaigns against American businesses and military bases. We can’t allow Chinese citizens, or anyone affiliated with the CCP, to own one more inch of American soil. And any American land exploited by current Chinese ownership should be sold,” he stated.
Similarly, in 2023, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) introduced the “This Land is Our Land Act,” which prohibited organizations and individuals associated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from acquiring U.S. farmland.
A 2021 report by the Department of Agriculture found that China owns 384,000 acres of American agricultural land. The number was a 30% increase from 2019 to 2020.
