A U.S. representative from New York who was among members of Congress writing to the comptroller general asking for a study of “foreign investment in U.S. farmland” has criticized China’s purchase of U.S. farmland.
Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., who was sworn in Jan. 3, 2021, representing Staten Island and Southern Brooklyn, is a member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
“@USDA says foreign ownership of US farmland has nearly doubled since 2010. With China purchasing farmland near an Air Force base in North Dakota, @USGAO must conduct study to ensure bad actors aren't exploiting our system & threatening our national security,” Malliotakis, who is assistant whip for the House Republican Conference, posted on Twitter.
Malliotakis was one of several members of Congress who signed an Oct. 1 letter to Comptroller General Gene Dodaro of the U.S. Government Accountability Office asking the office study “foreign investment in U.S. farmland and its impact on national security, trade and food security as well as U.S. government efforts to monitor these acquisitions.”
U.S. Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., who is Republican Leader of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, and Glenn “GT” Thompson Jr., R-Pa., Republican Leader of the House Committee on Agriculture, put forth the letter, according to a news release.
In a May 26 report, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission said there’s concern about a small plot of land in Grand Forks, N.D., selected in November 2021 by the Fufeng Group of Shandong, China, as the location for its new wet corn mill. The location is close to Grand Forks Air Force Base.
The Grand Forks Herald reported on a memo by Air Force Maj. Jeremy Fox where he expresses concern “if proximal access were given to our adversaries, and their collections were directed at us, it would present a costly national security risk causing grave damage to (the) United States’ strategic advantages.”
Preventing the Chinese Communist Party “from acquiring U.S. farmland under current law” isn’t a partisan issue, according to the America First Policy Institute. AFPI cited U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that Chinese investors held 13,720 acres of U.S. agricultural land in 2010 and 352,140 acres in 2020.
North Dakota was among 14 states that have enacted laws “banning the CCP from owning agricultural land," AFPI reported. The others are Arizona, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Another three have reportedly introduced legislation.
