WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) introduced an amendment to the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies appropriations bill to prohibit the purchase of agricultural land by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and make agricultural lands currently owned by the People’s Republic of China ineligible for farm programs.
“In recent years, the Chinese government has been buying up U.S. agricultural assets. Allowing this practice to continue would lead to the creation of a Chinese-owned agricultural monopoly and pose an immediate threat to U.S. national security and food security,” said Rep. Newhouse. “The U.S. cannot become dependent on China for our domestic agriculture and food supply.”
Click here to read the full text of the amendment.
Background:
- A 2018 report from USDA’s Economic Research Service has found that Chinese investment in the agricultural sector has grown tenfold in the last decade.
- A 1978 federal law, known as the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act, requires foreign entities to report transactions of farmland to the USDA’s Farm Service Agency. The data covers years 1900 through 2016.
- Already, six states have laws banning foreign ownership of farmland. Those states are Hawaii, Iowa, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Dakota and Oklahoma State, but restrictions on Chinese land ownership can be circumvented by Chinese investors buying large U.S. corporations that own agricultural land.
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Earlier this summer, Dan Newhouse, the Chair of the Congressional Western Caucus introduced an amendment to the Ag appropriations bill prohibiting the purchase of farmland by the People’s Republic of China. The Amendment would also make Ag lands currently owned by the Chinese government ineligible for farm programs.
Newhouse said allowing the Chinese government to continue to purchase farmland across the U.S. poses an immediate threat to U.S. national security, as well as food security. He noted when the Amendment was first proposed, it received strong bipartisan support. However as time as continued, Democrats expressed concerns, saying Newhouse’s amendment would increase anti-Asian sentiment across the U.S.
“I don’t see that being the case, myself, this is only directed at the communist government of the People’s Republic of China, not again Chinese individuals or Chinese individuals. I give the American public way more credit than that that they can discern the difference between a government and an individual. I think Americans are much smarter than that.”
Because of that, Newhouse said the language of the Amendment was changed in the Rules Committee to include Russia, Iran and North Korea. While the Amendment is not what he would like to see, Newhouse is hopeful something can now be done to address this growing problem of the Chinese government owning a growing number of American ag acres.
“Something that is a stated goal in their long-term plan to change worldwide dynamic where they are in control and that includes assets in our country. And I think we should take every step we can to stop that as early as possible in its tracks.”
Click here to read the full text of the amendment.
