Today, June 9th, 2022, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-02) signed on as a cosponsor of H.R. 7892, the Prohibition of Agricultural Land for the People’s Republic of China Act. This legislation, introduced by Rep. Dan Newhouse (WA-04), would prohibit the purchase of public or private agricultural land in the United States by foreign nationals associated with the Government of the People’s Republic of China.
“It is no secret that the Chinese Communist Party has been pushing their agenda and spreading influence around the world while also working to undermine critical American resources like our food supply. Ensuring our domestic food supply is secure is key to our national security,” said Miller-Meeks. “We need to continuously work to strengthen our domestic supply chains and prevent the Chinese Communist Party from increasing their presence in our agriculture industry. Taking these actions will boost American agriculture, improve our economy, and create thousands of good-paying jobs.”
Background:
China’s American agricultural land holdings have increased over tenfold in the last decade, and at the beginning of 2020, investments from China held $2 billion of American agricultural land.
In September of 2013, the President of the People’s Republic of China and General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping, announced China’s “grand political-economic project,” now known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) or Debt Trap Diplomacy. Over the last decade, President Xi has and continues to invest billions into the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road in Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas.
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 the 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.
Last year, Miller-Meeks cosponsored 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. This amendment was adopted by voice vote.
The Prohibition of Agricultural Land for the People’s Republic of China Act would direct the President of the United States to take any necessary actions to prohibit public or private agricultural land in the United States by foreign nationals associated with the Government of the People’s Republic of China. Additionally, the legislation would prohibit the same associations from participating in any Unites States Department of Agriculture programs except food safety inspections.
Original source can be found here
