Jul. 12—A proposal to protect a valuable strategic asset from some foreign-based actors deserves the full support of Congress and the Biden administration.
U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse, a Washington state Republican, has offered legislation in Congress to prevent companies or individuals based in China, Russia, Iran and North Korea from buying U.S. farmland. The U.S. House Appropriations Committee recently added it to a funding bill on a unanimous voice vote.
Similar measures have passed the House before, but the Senate has failed to pass them.
We all know the contempt with which the Chinese government holds U.S. technology and patents. We also have seen the contempt the government has for human rights. And we have seen the lengths to which the government will go to deny its responsibilities in the worldwide spread of COVID-19.
Now those same actors have their eyes on U.S. farmland, the most important of assets.
The stated policy of every U.S. administration has been to protect the ability of U.S. farmers to feed the nation and its friends around the globe. This policy has resulted in plentiful and affordable food. All a person has to do is walk through any grocery store and the success of that policy is obvious.
Allowing Chinese companies to buy into that policy makes no sense. Already, a Chinese government-backed company owns Smithfield Foods, the world’s largest pork producer and processor. The Chinese paid $4.7 billion — 30% more than the market value of the company — in 2013.
Since then, a lot has happened between China and the U.S. China continues to threaten to take over Taiwan, an independent nation off the coast of the mainland, apparently hoping to emulate Russia’s invasion of Crimea and Ukraine.
In each instance, China has put the interests of itself over those of everyone else.
Then there’s Russia, where Vladimir Putin is taking over independent foreign nations. He even threatened the president of Finland after that nation opted to join NATO, calling the move “a mistake.”
At the same time, Putin has trashed Russia’s economy. Note that the Russian ruble is worth less than a few pennies.
Iran and North Korea, both sworn enemies of the U.S., continue to seek nuclear arsenals and the intercontinental missiles to deliver them.
Considering these factors, Congress should block any efforts of companies in any way associated with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea from ever buying U.S. farmland.
Chinese companies or individuals already own 352,140 acres of U.S. agricultural land. Much of that land is tied to Smithfield Foods. Iranians own 4,324 acres of U.S. farmland, and Russians own 834 acres. North Korea owns none.
That does not seem like a lot, but in our eyes, it’s too much.
U.S. farmland is the keystone of our nation’s security. Selling it to those who wish us ill is folly.
