The Senate voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to prohibit China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran from purchasing U.S. agricultural land and agricultural businesses. The language was added to a military spending bill that was sure to pass the Senate and then be reconciled with a House version.
The amendment by Sen. Mark Rounds, a South Dakota Republican, would instruct the powerful Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, an interdepartmental panel led by the Treasury Department, to prohibit such purchases. The Russian invasion of Ukraine and a heightened Sino-U.S. rivalry have fueled concern about foreign ownership of U.S. assets.
“This is a commonsense provision that will make our homeland more secure,” said Rounds. Montana Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat, was a cosponsor.
Foreign entities own 40.8 million acres of U.S. agricultural land, or 3.1% of the privately owned land in the nation, according to USDA data. Half of the foreign-owned land is forests. Canada accounts for one-third of the foreign-owned land. Lawmakers often worry about land purchases by China, which owned 347,000 acres at latest count.
