Ricketts, Fetterman team up for crackdown on China's attempts to purchase US farmland

FIRST ON FOX: Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts, Democrat Sen. John Fetterman and others are teaming up connected authorities to codify oversight connected overseas countries buying American farmland.

The bipartisan Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure (AFIDA) Improvements Act seeks to instrumentality recommendations published by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) successful January 2024, which recovered the AFIDA was ill-equipped to combat overseas ownership of American cultivation land. 

"American farmland should stay successful the hands of American farmers and ranchers, not overseas adversaries," Ricketts of Nebraska shared archetypal with Fox News Digital. "The neighbors who provender america should payment from onshore ownership, not Communist China. Food information is nationalist security."

The bill, besides co-sponsored by Sens. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, John Cornyn of Texas, Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska introduced legislation, requires AFIDA reporting for overseas persons holding much than 1 percent involvement successful American cultivation land.

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Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., projected bipartisan authorities connected Thursday to summation oversight connected overseas countries buying American farmland.  (Getty Images)

"Over the past respective decades, China has been buying up American farmland successful an effort to infiltrate our agriculture proviso chains. Food information is nationalist security, and we cannot springiness the CCP a foothold," Tuberville said successful a connection to Fox News Digital.

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The AFIDA Improvements Act aims to summation information-sharing betwixt the Committee connected Foreign Investment successful the United States and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). It besides requires updates to the AFIDA's handbook and establishes a deadline for USDA to acceptable up an online AFIDA system. 

The bill's House sponsor, Bacon, told Fox News Digital that "having existent processes successful spot volition fortify the information of our federation successful the lawsuit nefarious overseas agents, specified arsenic the CCP, effort to acquisition cultivation lands wrong our nation." 

A tractor collects bales of hay during a heatwave extracurricular Elgin, Texas, connected Wednesday, July 20, 2022. 

Based connected the GAO's recommendations, the measure seeks to update the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 to amended equip the USDA to combat overseas adversaries’ ownership of American cultivation land.

Under AFIDA, overseas entities indispensable disclose to the USDA transactions of American cultivation land. 

Foreign investors ain implicit 40 cardinal acres of cultivation onshore successful the United States, and betwixt 2010 and 2021, Chinese ownership of American cultivation onshore accrued from 13,720 acres to 383,935 acres, according to the USDA. 

The AFIDA Improvements Act is the latest effort by Congressional Republicans to way overseas ownership of American farmland and fortify nationalist security. It was archetypal introduced by Bacon and Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., successful 2024. 

China owned astir 350,000 acres of farmland crossed 27 states arsenic of past year, according to information from the U.S. Department of Agriculture

China's nationalist emblem flutters connected Pingtan island, the closest constituent successful China to Taiwan's main island, successful southeast China's Fujian state connected December 11, 2024.  (Adek Berry)

The question to prohibition China from buying U.S. farmland located adjacent subject bases has been gaining steam successful the Senate this year. The PASS Act, led by Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., has the backing of Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and would forestall immoderate entity from a "covered country," which includes China, North Korea, Russia and Iran, from purchasing cultivation onshore adjacent subject bases oregon delicate sites. 

Republican Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota and Katie Britt of Alabama, projected The Not One More Inch oregon Acre Act, earlier this twelvemonth to prohibition China from buying U.S. onshore entirely. 

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On the statesmanlike run way successful 2024, President Donald Trump indicated helium would prohibition China from buying American farmland. 

The Senate passed an amendment with bipartisan enactment successful 2023 that would prohibition China, Russia, North Korea and Iran from buying American farmland and cultivation businesses, but it did not go law. 

Fox News Digital's Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.