Residence to twenty p.c of the worldwide inhabitants, however solely 7 to 9 p.c of the world’s arable land, China is an excessive meals scarcity. To fight the disaster, the Chinese language Communist Social gathering (CCP) devised a decades-long technique of buying tens of millions of acres of American farmland, livestock, seeds and meals provide strains from the US.

In reality, in ten years, Chinese language possession of U.S. farmland has jumped from $81M in 2010 to $1.8B in 2020. It doesn’t take a top-secret safety clearance to think about the damaging financial and nationwide safety implications of China maintaining undue leverage over U.S. meals provide. Though meals safety isn’t all the time on the high of protection and nationwide safety conversations, it ought to be.

Within the coming days, members of Congress will reintroduce the Selling Agriculture Safeguards and Safety (PASS) Act. The laws bans China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea from investing in or buying any land or enterprise concerned in American agriculture. It additionally provides the Secretary of Agriculture as a standing member of the Committee on Overseas Funding in the US (CFIUS) – which evaluations transactions involving overseas funding within the U.S. 

The PASS Act corrects a significant vulnerability in American meals safety: there are at present no authorized restrictions on overseas investments in U.S. agricultural land. Each Republican and Democrat members of Congress ought not hesitate to move this much-needed laws to maintain our meals provide freed from overseas management. In any case, if Congress doesn’t act—China will.

CHINA’S INTEREST IN US AGRUCULTURE POSES SECURITY THREAT, FEDERAL REPORT WARNS

Yearly, China mounts a brand new problem to American meals safety. In 2013, with the CCP’s backing, Chinese language firm WH Group acquired Smithfield Meals – the biggest pork producer in the US. The acquisition marked China’s largest buy of a U.S. asset so far at $4.7 billion. The acquisition included 146,000 acres of American farmland all through North Carolina, Missouri, Utah, Virginia, Colorado, and Oklahoma. In a single transaction, and with little pushback, the Chinese language authorities gained important leverage over American food supply infrastructure.

In Texas, one Chinese language billionaire—with shut ties to the CCP—purchased over 140,000 acres of land. In reality, in 2020, he bought a 15,000-acre parcel of land in Val Verde County which can be dwelling to Laughlin Air Power Base. With no interference from the American authorities, the Chinese language purchased land instantly subsequent to our premier coaching floor for army pilots. Whereas the acquisition brought about a stir from then-Rep. Hurd who represents the district, current legislation allowed the transaction.

Farm employees make their approach throughout a area shrouded in fog as they hoe weeds from a tobacco crop close to Warsaw, Ky.,
(A2008)

A 12 months later, one other Chinese language firm—Fufeng Group—with sturdy ties to the CCP purchased land in Grand Forks, North Dakota for its new moist corn mill. In fact, the plot of land is situated simply 12 miles from Grand Forks Air Power Base—which homes a number of the United States’ high intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance property. As one authorities report famous, “the placement of the land near the bottom is especially handy for monitoring air site visitors flows out and in of the bottom, amongst different security-related issues.”

The American folks deserve a authorities that no less than stops our enemies from shopping for our arable land—particularly when such land is in shut proximity to army services—and controlling our meals provide. The flagrant disregard for severe nationwide safety issues marks a betrayal of belief between the federal government and the folks it’s meant to serve. Congress should move the PASS Act and forestall a nationwide safety disaster earlier than it’s too late.

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To be clear, it’s not simply Congress that has a job to play. We additionally want a Commander-in-Chief who will make American meals and farmland safety a precedence. CFIUS—composed of 9 Biden-appointed cabinet-level officers—should ratchet up the depth of its evaluate course of for overseas investments. If Chinese language purchases of strategic farmland doesn’t warrant CFIUS’ intervention, it’s arduous to think about what does.

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And eventually, state governments must step up too. Whereas policymakers in Texas and North Dakota are already taking motion, so many different states ought to observe swimsuit. State legislatures should move laws to develop vital safeguards in opposition to overseas acquisition of strategic farmland. With cooperation in any respect ranges of presidency, we are able to safe our meals provide for generations.

It doesn’t all the time take top-secret, clandestine intelligence operations to grasp what our enemies are planning subsequent. Generally, the threats are proper underneath our nostril. It’s about time our elected leaders began paying consideration.

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