Senate adds amendment to defense bill to restrict China, Russia, North Korea and Iran from purchasing U.S. land

In another sign of U.S. tensions with competing countries, the U.S. Senate "voted overwhelmingly to prohibit China, Russia, North Korea and Iran from purchasing U.S. agricultural land and agricultural businesses," reports the Food and Environment Reporting Network. "The language was added to a military spending bill that was sure to pass the Senate and then be reconciled with a House version."

The amendment by Sen. Mark Rounds, a South Dakota Republican, "would instruct the powerful Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, an interdepartmental panel led by the Treasury Department, to prohibit such purchases," Ag Insider reports. "The Russian invasion of Ukraine and a heightened Sino-U.S. rivalry have fueled concern about foreign ownership of U.S. assets."

Despite concerns, Chinese and Russian interests do not own much American soil. Ag Insider reports, "Foreign entities own 40.8 million acres of U.S. agricultural land, or 3.1% of the privately owned land in the nation, according to USDA data. Half of the foreign-owned land is forests. Canada accounts for one-third of the foreign-owned land. . . . China owns 347,000 acres at latest count."