United States: weeks after national security concerns were raised by a Chinese company's proposed US$700 million agribusiness facility in North Dakota, the U.S. Senate bans investing in or acquiring any U.S. agricultural land or agribusiness. A law to blacklist China has been introduced.

Mike Rounds, a Republican senator from neighboring South Dakota, announced that the purchase of 370 acres for a corn milling plant in Grand Forks by Chinese bio-fermentation giant Fufeng Group had "worried" him.

Grand Forks US Air Force Base, home to top-tier intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, is located 19 kilometers (12 mi) from the project.

Rounds argued that the project's "development plan" would "enable the Chinese Communist Party to closely monitor operations and communications at a very important military facility", as described by local Grand Forks officials.

The Promoting Agriculture Safeguards and Security Act (PASS) is a proposed law that would forbid any investment in the US agricultural sector by organizations with ties to North Korea, Iran or Russia.

The Defense Production Act of 1950, which empowers the US President to compel private companies to produce goods and provide services to protect national security, will be expanded to include the agricultural industry.

The bill, which is still unsponsored, also calls for the Secretary of Agriculture to be a member of the Inter-Agency Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which assesses the national security risk posed by any proposed foreign mergers or acquisitions. . an American company.

In a statement, Rounds said, "I have heard from many farmers and ranchers in South Dakota who are concerned about foreign adversaries owning American farmland.

“We need to stop this and do something about it. This law ensures that American interests are protected by preventing foreign adversaries from obtaining land or agribusiness.

Allied legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives last month by Republican New York Representative Alice Stefnik. There is only one co-sponsor.

Chinese businesses investing in the US agricultural sector were linked to China's "food security crisis" in a report by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission published in May.

The report reviewed "China's food security challenges and how these weaknesses drive interest in US-China agricultural relations," warning that "these efforts present multiple risks to US economic and national security."

The bill would have no economic impact due to the lack of direct corporate investment from some countries such as China and the politically sensitive subject of land ownership, according to Frane Olson, a crop economist at North Dakota State University.

 This will not be an economic debate, he said; It would be more political.

According to department data, the share of Chinese investors in US agricultural land increased from 13,720 acres in 2010 to 352,140 acres in 2020. However, it still represents 35.8 million acres of US agricultural land and less than 1% of the forest owned by foreign nationals.

With a share of 29%, Canadian corporations are the largest foreign owners, followed by the Netherlands with a share of 14%.

In the short term, according to Ji Lee, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine, who specializes in US-China trade, the new bill will only enhance the already anti-China narrative that is a hallmark of campaign season. until the US midterm election in November.

"Politicians will gain recognition for challenging China. Essentially, this is a signal to their supporters," he said.

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