Trump admin restricts foreign ownership of US farmland amid China tensions

South China Morning Post

4 hours ago

The Trump administration is tightening its grip on foreign ownership of farmland amid continuing concerns over Chinese investment in America's heartland.
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The US Department of Agriculture will work with state lawmakers to end farmland purchases 'by nationals for countries of concern or other foreign adversaries', according to a press event on Tuesday.
The USDA is also partnering with the US Treasury Department's Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, to review foreign purchases involving the farming industry.
US farms are 'under threat from criminals, from political adversaries and from hostile regimes that understand our way of life as a profound and existential threat to themselves', Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said at the event.
Rollins said she is officially part of CFIUS as of Tuesday.
US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins peaks during a news conference to roll out the USDA'S National Farm Security Action Plan in Washington on Tuesday. Photo: AP
The move comes as US-China tensions have reverberated across state and local politics in Middle America in recent years, sowing angst about Chinese investment.