EXCLUSIVE — Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) is reintroducing legislation that would prevent the Chinese Communist Party from purchasing farmland adjacent to federal property in an effort to protect national security.
Lummis is teaming up with Sens. Mike Crapo (R-ID) and John Barrasso (R-WY) on the bill, which would bring heightened scrutiny to land deals implicating Chinese actors after reports of Chinese companies acquiring U.S. farmland near military installations over the last few years.
This legislation prohibits any agent or business affiliated with the CCP from purchasing land adjacent to federal land in the United States. It also specifies any business “with respect to which the Government of the People’s Republic of China directly or indirectly through any contract, arrangement, understanding, relationship, or otherwise, owns 25 percent or more of the equity interests of the business.”
“Putting America First means preventing the Chinese Communist Party from buying up western land and putting our military bases, critical energy, and mineral production at risk,” Lummis said in a statement provided to the Washington Examiner. “The people of Wyoming know that allowing the CCP to buy up our land compromises both our national and economic security.”
A 1978 law requires foreign investors to report purchases of agricultural land to the Department of Agriculture. About 40 million acres, or 3%, of the 1.3 billion acres of private agricultural land in the country is owned by foreign entities, according to data from the USDA. The most recent USDA report with data through the end of 2021 found Canadian investors owned 31%, or 12.8 million acres, and China has less than 1% of foreign-owned land at just over 380,000 acres total. The majority of the land is owned by Smithfield Foods and billionaire Sun Guangxin.
In the report, the USDA noted that despite China’s relatively low percentage holding of foreign-owned farmland, “there is considerable interest in their holdings.”
“Allowing the CCP to purchase western lands poses a plethora of risks including threats to our national security and encroachment on America’s natural resources. We must protect Idaho and our western neighbors from threats seen and unseen,” Crapo said in a statement.
The Senate included a similar amendment to the national defense bill in 2023 and there have been many bills in Congress aimed at limiting Chinese ownership of farmland in recent years. According to data from the Committee of 100, a nonprofit group that advocates Chinese Americans, as of mid-December of last year, 215 bills restricting property ownership by foreign entities have been introduced across 40 states, 164 of them prohibit or restrict Chinese citizens from making the purchases.
“Opening the door to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) puts our national security and domestic energy production at risk. The people of Wyoming and across the West work hard to protect and manage our lands productively and efficiently. We cannot allow our adversaries to buy up our land and threaten our national, economic, and energy security,” Barrasso said.
New USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said a federal solution to prevent Chinese entities from purchasing farmland in the U.S. will be one of her top priorities.
SENATE VOTES TO KEEP CHINA FROM BUYING US FARMLAND
“One of the very, very top of the list perhaps is the Chinese purchase of our farmland. A lot of that land is around some of our military outposts,” Rollins said in an interview with Breitbart News.
A companion bill is expected to be introduced in the House by Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA). Lummis originally introduced the bill in 2024 during the 118th Congress.