U.S. lawmakers push for tighter restrictions on Chinese farmland ownership.
Originally Published 2 years ago — by KMAland
Iowa Senator Joni Ernst and Michigan Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow propose an overhaul of the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act to prevent China from threatening American food security and national security by buying up agricultural land in the U.S. The bill would strengthen oversight authority at USDA to investigate foreign investment in the agricultural industry, upgrade tools to combat nefarious interests, develop a database of ag land by foreign persons, and create an audit of this ownership. The proposal comes in the wake of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in an attempt to shore up relations between the two countries.