The bill requires the CCP to divest ownership of US farmland.
QUICK FACTS:
- Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) introduced his “This Land is Our Land Act,” prohibiting organizations and individuals associated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from acquiring U.S. farmland.
- The bill forces foreign land owners to sign “letters of intent” to “divest itself from any ownership or lease interests in United States agricultural land,” the draft bill reads.
- The bill also notes that CCP-linked entities must divest ownership within two years of the bill’s passing or else face penalties.
- CCP-associated parties risk forfeiture of the farmland if the entity does not divest its ownership.
- “No Chinese corporation or individual associated with the CCP should be permitted to own American farmland,” Hawley said to Fox News. “It undermines the integrity of our nation’s food supply chain, it presents national security threats when the land is in close proximity to military installations, and it hurts American farmers.”
CHINESE ACQUISITION OF AMERICAN FARMLAND:
- The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that “nearly half of the Chinese-held acres of agricultural land at the end of 2020 were in Texas.”
- “About 80 percent of Chinese-owned U.S. agricultural acreage has been acquired since 2010,” according to the report.
- At the end of 2010, China owned 75,000 acres of U.S. agricultural land.
- However, by the end of 2020, Chinese investors owned 383,935 acres of U.S. farmland, slightly less than 1% of all foreign landholdings in the United States.
- Chinese food manufacturer Fufeng Group purchased 300 acres of farmland in North Dakota, near the Grand Forks Air Base, although the Grand Forks City Council voted to prevent the company from building on the land due to national security concerns.
BACKGROUND:
- In January, Donald Trump announced a plan to prohibit Chinese investment in the United States.
- Trump’s plan includes “aggressive new restrictions on Chinese ownership of any vital infrastructure in the United States, including energy, technology, telecommunications, farmland, natural resources, medical supplies, and other strategic national assets.”
- The 45th president demanded that pressure be put on current Chinese U.S. landholdings “that put our national security at risk.”
