Safeguarding American Soil

September 12, 2024

The House of Representatives passed the “Protecting U.S. Farmland from Foreign Adversaries Act” on Wednesday, with a companion bill introduced in the Senate by Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Mike Braun (R-IN). The legislation seeks to tighten oversight on foreign attempts to purchase U.S. farmland, specifically targeting countries like China, North Korea, Russia, and Iran. It proposes adding the Secretary of Agriculture to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, ensuring involvement in future transactions related to agricultural land, biotechnology, and product transportation, storage, and processing.

The bill also grants the Secretary authority to report land purchases by foreign entities from adversarial nations. Senator Braun highlighted that Chinese ownership of American farmland has increased over 20-fold in the past decade, warning that without stronger restrictions, foreign control over U.S. soil will continue to rise. Fourteen additional senators have endorsed the bill.

Source: NAFB

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