Adam Savit, director of the China Policy Initiative at the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), said the newly introduced "Protecting U.S. Farmland and Sensitive Sites From Foreign Adversaries Act" is notable for several reasons.
Savit noted the act's bipartisan nature and the expanded jurisdiction it would grant to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), according to an interview with the Federal Newswire. Congressmen Mike Gallager, R-Wis., and Mike Thompson, D-Calif., introduced the bill July 12 with the goal of cracking down on foreign adversaries purchasing land near sensitive sites in the U.S.
"The 'Protecting U.S. Farmland and Sensitive Sites From Foreign Adversaries Act' is bipartisan, which is excellent," Savit told Federal Newswire, noting most state-level efforts on this issue have been led by Republicans. "This is really excellent progress. It's notable that the bill has purview over all land, because a lot of the bills in the states apply to agricultural land only."
Savit went on to describe a "high profile case" of a Chinese entity purchasing a facility near the U.S. Air Force Base in Grand Forks, N.D., according to Federal Newswire.
"It seems that this new bill would give CFIUS new teeth that would allow it to address these situations before they become a problem," Savit told Federal Newswire.
The bill would give CFIUS authority over any purchases of land made by entities associated with adversarial nations, according to a July 12 Select Committee on the Communist Chinese Party (CCP) release. If those entities seek to purchase land near sensitive sites, such as military facilities, the bill would require a mandatory filing with CFIUS.
The bill also would expand the number of sensitive sites under CFIUS' authority and would enable CFIUS to take food security into account during national security reviews, the release reported.
"The United States cannot allow foreign adversaries like the Chinese Communist Party and its proxies to acquire real estate near sensitive sites like military bases or telecom infrastructure, potentially exploiting our critical technology and endangering our service members," Gallagher, committee chair, said in the release.
An America First Policy Institute report authored by Savit in April found that between 2010 and 2020, U.S. farmland owned by entities associated with the CCP increased from 13,720 to 352,140 acres, valued at approximately $1.9 billion, citing reports from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"Securing and dominating world food supply chains is an integral part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative," Savit explained in the report. "The average U.S. farm is 445 acres, so nearly 800 American families could be farming this acreage that is now controlled by the CCP."
Fufeng USA, a subsidiary of Chinese-owned Fufeng Group Ltd, announced plans in 2021 to construct a corn milling plant on 370 acres of land near Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota, sparking concerns about national security, Ag Week reported in May 2022.
A May 2022 report from the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission highlighted security concerns about the Fufeng plant, noting it would be only 12 miles away from Grand Forks Air Force Base, the Grand Forks Herald reported.
In a separate memo, Air Force Maj. Jeremy Fox expressed concerns over national security, writing "some of the most sensitive elements of Grand Forks exist with the digital uplinks and downlinks inherent with unmanned air systems and their interaction with space based assets," according to Grand Forks Herald. Fufeng's headquarters are in China, and its chairman has ties to the CCP.
Citing a Congressional Research Service report, Savit said more than a dozen states had laws in place banning or restricting the purchase of land by CCP-associated entities as of Nov. 2021, but "many of these laws were never used, poorly implemented, circumvented by the use of U.S.-based subsidiaries, or undermined by repeals and amendments due to pressure from business groups," according to the AFPI report.
Savit noted that due to the "accelerating threat from China and apparent lack of effective protection," more than 20 state legislatures introduced similar bills during their sessions this year, the AFPI report said. Savit said bills at the state level have varied in several areas, including whether they target land purchased just by China or by all "problem countries," and whether they apply to agricultural land only, land near critical infrastructure or all real estate in general.
"The blossoming of bills meant to restrict CCP access to U.S. agricultural land in 2023 is part of a larger positive trend that has seen American citizens and governments awaken to the whole-of-society threat that the CCP poses," Savit said in the report.
He advocated for the principles of "strategic decoupling" and "reciprocity" to govern the U.S.' approach to its relationship with China, the AFPI report said.
"These two ideas should guide state policies in agricultural land access," Savit said in the report, arguing that people associated with the CCP should not enjoy opportunities in the U.S. that Americans do not have in China, and highlighting the need to remove critical supply chains, including the food supply chain, from adversarial nations including China.
