The Senate voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to bar investors from China, Russia, Iran and North Korea from buying U.S. farmland and agricultural companies.
The measure, brought to the floor as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act and approved, 91-7, would also require the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to review land purchases by investors from any other foreign country totaling more than $5 million or 320 acres. USDA would be added as an "ex officio" member of CFIUS.
Democrats Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Alex Padilla of California, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Peter Welch of Vermont, and Republican Rand Paul of Kentucky opposed the amendment.
Two senators — Republican Tim Scott of South Carolina and Democrat Dick Durbin of Illinois — didn't vote.
The measure, proposed by Sens. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., Jon Tester, D-Mont., Steve Daines, R-Mont., and John Kennedy, R-La., would require CFIUS to bar investors "subject to the jurisdiction or direction of" the governments of China, Russia, North Korea and Iran from purchasing land. The bill would also require CFIUS to review purchases exceeding 320 acres or $5 million by investors from any foreign country.
The amendment, however, would give the president the ability to exempt investors from the requirements if it is "vital to the national security interests of the United States." Rounds told Agri-Pulse after the vote that the bill also includes exceptions for companies from these countries already operating in the U.S., like Smithfield Foods.
"This law, if it goes into effect, would stop any transaction unless they get an exemption from the law," Rounds said.
The measure would not apply to investors who are U.S. citizens or aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the U.S., according to the amendment text.
The amendment, Rounds said, is meant to prevent foreign adversaries from purchasing land near military bases. The issue gained national prominence last year when a China-based agribusiness company called the FuFeng Group purchased 370 acres of North Dakota land near an air force base for a wet corn milling plant.
It’s easy to sign up for a FREE month of Agri-Pulse news! For the latest on what’s happening in Washington, D.C. and around the country in agriculture, just click here.
The defense bill is expected to pass the Senate this week and will likely be sent to a conference committee to be reconciled with the House version.
Rounds said he expects the farmland amendment to survive negotiations with the House.
"I can't imagine the House feeling any different than the Senate does with regard to trying to take care of the problem that we've seen with what China, specifically, has been trying to do to gather data on our bases," Rounds said.
Members of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party recently proposed expand the jurisdiction of CFIUS over land purchases and require the panel to take food security into account in its reviews.
For more news, go to www.agri-pulse.com.
Editors note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the ban applied to land purchases exceeding 320 acres or $5 million by investors from China, Russia, Iran or North Korea. The bill actually bans all land purchases by investors from those countries. Purchases of more than 320 acres or $5 million dollar by investors from any other foreign country would be subject to CFIUS reviews.
