New Legislation to Prevent China From Buying Farmland

A new bill being introduced into congress would stop China from buying any more land in California, or anywhere else in the nation.

Congressman Dan Newhouse is sponsoring the bill, named The Prohibition of Agricultural Land for the People’s Republic of China Act.

Newhouse says a new report released by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission raises some questions on the country’s ownership of farmland.

“They truly are inserting themselves into many different countries controlling natural resources, critical elements, critical minerals, infrastructures around the globe in Central America, South America and the African continent and even in Asia. We’re starting to see that here in the United States by their acquiring of agricultural assets.”

Which, he says, goes beyond simple ag land purchases.

“They state that there truly are concerns here that China, by making these investments in agricultural assets, I think they phrased it, as they would have undue leverage over our U.S. supply chain.”

Newhouse says this bill might be at least part of the answer.

“With my legislation, I think it’s a great first step that we should be taking to try to get a handle on this so that we don’t wake up one day in the future, five, ten, twenty years from and wish that we had taken action sooner.”