Lawmakers are sounding the alarm on China.
Chinese purchasers continue to buy up tens of thousands of acres of American farmland. The latest example: the purchase by a Chinese conglomerate of 370 acres in North Dakota located about 12 miles from a U.S. Air Force base. Lawmakers call the trend a national security issue. Policy expert Chuck DeVore says the situation could be a possible food security issue as well.
“If a foreign country were to own a controlling interest in some farmland, they could certainly have some arrangements where that product could be exported to their country,” DeVore explained.
He adds that Texas, Oklahoma, and Colorado are the top three states where foreigners are buying farmland. He says rich Chinese oligarchs having been doing so for the past decade, often as a hedge against inflation.
Now members of Congress are considering legislation limiting individuals and companies connected to the Chinese Communist Party from buying American land.