Republican lawmakers introduced a bill Tuesday that would stop members of the Chinese Communist Party from purchasing land in the U.S., a move that aligns with efforts of the Trump administration.
Sens. Rick Scott of Florida, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota and Katie Britt of Alabama introduced the “Not One More Inch or Acre Act.” It would give Mr. Trump clear authority to prohibit all future land purchases by the CCP and force the divestment of already owned property in cases of national security protection.
“Communist China has chosen to be our enemy and seeks to destroy us and our way of life every chance they get,” Mr. Scott said in a statement. “It’s alarming that CCP-linked entities have been quietly buying up U.S. farmland, often strategically located close to our military bases. That’s not a coincidence. It’s a threat to our national security.”
He applauded the administration for taking steps to stop “ignoring this growing danger.”
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins last week announced the National Farm Security Action, which would ban the sale of land to Chinese nationals and other foreign adversaries through a multi-agency effort.
“American agriculture is not just about feeding our families, but about protecting our nation and standing up to foreign adversaries who are buying our farmland, stealing our research, and creating dangerous vulnerabilities in the very systems that sustain us,” Ms. Rollins said at a press conference at the Agriculture Department headquarters.
She said seven active agreements with foreign countries of concern have been canceled and 70 people affiliated with those countries have been removed. Another 550 entities are in the process of being removed for similar reasons.
Chinese nationals currently own roughly 265,000 acres of U.S. land, according to the USDA.
“For them, agricultural lands and our farms, because they are a previous inheritance, are weapons to be turned against us,” Ms. Rollins said. “We see it again and again, from Chinese communist acquisition of American farmland to criminal exploits of our system of agriculture, to the theft of operational information required to work the land and beyond. All of this takes what is profoundly good and turns it toward evil purposes.”
Other countries of concern include North Korea, Iran and Russia.
Ms. Rollins was joined in her announcement by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Republican Govs. Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas, Jim Pillen of Nebraska and Bill Lee of Tennessee.
More attention has been paid to the issue. Ms. Huckabee Sanders has introduced her own legislative package to restrict Chinese nationals from buying land, particularly near military bases or critical infrastructure.
Sen. Josh Hawley, Missouri Republican, has also introduced legislation, Protecting Our Farms and Homes from China Act, to stop the purchases.
The Embassy of the People’s Republic of China directed The Washington Times to a comment from Chinese Embassy Spokesperson Mr. Liu Pengyu on the trade relationship between the U.S. and China.
“The essence of China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation is win-win cooperation,” he said. “Over the years, Chinese companies’ investment in the United States has made important contributions to promoting domestic employment and economic development in the United States. Generalizing the concept of national security and politicizing economic and trade investment issues violates the principles of market economy and international trade rules, and undermines the outside world’s confidence in the U.S. market environment.”
