Speaking in early July about an issue of major importance to many rural conservatives, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced that the Donald Trump Administration is taking action to ban individuals and entities connected to the People’s Republic of China from buying up American farmland. Secretary Rollins’s comments came on Tuesday, July 8.
The move was announced as part of the “National Farm Security Action Plan,” which was released by the USDA and covers a full suite of moves designed to protect American farms and American access to food, doing everything from taking action to strengthen agricultural supply lines to blocking foreign adversaries’ access to American land.
Justifying the general moves being made, the action plan began by noting the immense importance of food and agriculture to the American people and mindset, saying, “Agriculture is foundational to our nation. Our Founders saw agriculture as the essential pursuit to the cultivation of republican ideals. Americans, after all, must eat. Today, threats to American agriculture not only expose us to risks of shortages, foreign dependencies, and higher prices but they also strike at one of the most essential pillars of the American republic.”
Continuing, before describing the many national security risks to agriculture, the statement noted, “Defending access to American abundance and preserving the American experiment is the essence of agriculture security. And it is why farm security is national security. The food and agriculture sector is designated as critical infrastructure. ”
A bit later, the action plan noted that issue number one for the Trump Administration is blocking our foreign adversaries from buying up American land, noting, “Land owned by foreign nationals—particularly those from countries of concern (as defined in 15 CFR 231.102) or other foreign adversaries—is a potential threat to national security and future economic prosperity. USDA will ensure transparency of foreign U.S. agricultural land ownership and pursue robust and overdue updates to data collection, reporting, and analysis.” The People’s Republic of China is one of those countries of concern.
Then, after noting that the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 (AFIDA) provides statutory authority here, the release provided that a key action taken will be to block the countries of concern, such as China, from buying American farmland. It said, “USDA will work alongside State and Congressional partners where applicable to take swift legislative or executive action to end the direct or indirect purchase or control of American farmland by nationals from countries of concern or other foreign adversaries.”
It further noted that government authorities will work together to track and enforce that, stating: “USDA will sign a joint Memorandum of Agreement with the Department of Treasury as chair of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to ensure regular coordination with the Secretary, or designee, related to CFIUS reviews concerning covered foreign transactions that involve farmland, agricultural businesses, agriculture biotechnology, or the agriculture industry.”
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That’s not all. It also noted that, to improve tracking and ensure that those who need to be cracked down upon will be, a portal has been created that lets farmers report suspicious activities: “USDA has launched a new online portal for farmers, ranchers, and others to report possible false or failed reporting and compliance with respect to AFIDA. Further, the portal will receive and review claims of adversarial foreign influence on federal, state, and local policymakers with respect to purchases of U.S. farmland and business dealings in other facets of U.S. agricultural supply chains. Submissions may be accepted anonymously or contact information may be provided for appropriate follow-up by USDA.”
It also indicated who this move is most clearly targeted against, providing a map showing the immense amount of American farmland owned by PRC and CCP-connected entities and individuals. Check that out here:
Secretary Rollins also spoke about the matter in a Cabinet meeting and posted about it on X. In her post, which included a clip of her speaking about the matter while holding the above graphic, Secretary Rollins said, “Too much American farmland is owned by Chinese nationals — Enough is enough. It’s time to take back our land.🇺🇸”
Watch her here:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video