A bipartisan bill passed by the House of Representatives would give the federal government more oversight to investigate and potentially ban the sale of agricultural land to those associated with countries like China.
The bill would direct the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to investigate sales of farmland referred to it by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
CFIUS can then determine if the sale would involve a U.S. business being bought out by a foreign entity, and whether such a sale would be a security risk, requiring a review. The bill intends to add oversight to the sale of farmland to companies and individuals linked to the Chinese Communist Party.
The bill comes amid bipartisan national security concerns over Chinese business investments on American soil. In Michigan, the China-based company Gotion is planning to build an electric vehicle battery plant in Mecosta County's Green Charter Township that's become a hot-button issue, resulting in public protests and election recalls of the entire township board.
U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Caledonia), who is chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, has called for the plant to be scrapped. He says the plant's close proximity to Camp Grayling, the nation's largest National Guard training facility, is a national security threat.
“When the CCP looks at us farmland, it sees a strategic asset. Once acquired, it will be used to enhance Chinese national security and undermine our own,” Moolenaar said on the House floor in support of the bill. “China would never allow U.S. firms to buy land near Chinese bases. To protect our national security, we need to do the same.”
H.R 9456 passed with bipartisan support. Two-hundred-fourteen Republicans and 55 Democrats backed it. Every Republican member of the Michigan delegation voted in favor. U.S. Reps. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly), Hillary Scholten (D-Grand Rapids) and Dan Kildee (D-Flint) also voted in favor of the bill.
🚨#ChinaWeek Update:@RepNewhouse 's H.R. 9456, the Protecting American Agriculture from Foreign Adversaries Act passes the House!
— Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (@committeeonccp) September 11, 2024
Chairman @RepMoolenaar in support of the bill ⬇️
"CCP-aligned companies have amassed thousands of acres of American farmland...
It is certainly… pic.twitter.com/aHTnhBzdlD
Still, despite the bipartisan support some sectors have expressed concerns about the bill.
The Biden administration supports the bills goals but called the bill “unnecessary.” They say its main goals are already in the CFIUS process and were already covered in a federal funding bill from earlier this year. The administration said the bill “would not be implementable as drafted.”
Bob Thompson is the head of the Michigan Farmer’s Union. He expressed some concerns about the bill. “There has been a similar bill passed decades ago. That is called the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act. That any foreigner has to report to USDA,” Thompson said. He added that existing policy was sufficient at addressing foreign ownership of farmland.
“At the end of the day, the members of the Farmers Union here in Michigan most, if not all of their equity is tied into that land. And they're going to use their better judgment as to who they may sell it to. And I would hope that this current bill would not restrict that without some very, very sound principles,” he said.
Thompson said his policy priorities for his members are tied to multinational corporations that own food distributors “I think a higher priority should have been when the foreigners are buying our food chain entities,” Thompson said.
“It gives us a limited amount of markets to sell into. It is a national security concern from the standpoint that the American consumer is relying on these companies, and we feel that that's something that should be addressed, perhaps more broadly.”
Thompson said he wanted to see political effort to “rein in the multinationals,” by breaking up large companies that control a large amount of the food market.
Concerns about foreign ownership of food distributors were echoed by David Ortega, a professor at Michigan State University. He studies international food policy and spoke to the House last year about food trade between China and the U.S.
"Chinese entities have a stake in just 0.03% of all privately held U.S. ag land,” Ortega said. “They’re not really buying farmland here to produce food for themselves, but they're interested in having more control over their import supply chains. Which is why we've seen them take over certain Agribusinesses like Smithfield Foods and even Syngenta.”
Ortega said such purchases give China access to technology and are worth looking into.
Ortega also had concerns about the potential for the bill to impact farmers access to China’s market. “China is a major market for agricultural products. They import a lot of our soybeans, a lot of our beef, pork,” he said. “China can very well retaliate, and it would be far easier for a country like China to find new sources of agricultural products, and it is for, American farmers to find a new market for our products.”
The bill has moved on to the Senate.
