WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today,Representative Mike Collins(R-Ga.)delivered a speechon the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives to sound the alarm onChina buying up U.S. agricultural land.
Key Excerpts
"Xi Jinping has clearly statedthat by 2049 he wants China to be the world leader—diplomatically, economically, militarily, even in space."
"China owns $870 billion in U.S. Treasuriesthat finance our debt.And they either own or have a huge portion of the Chicago Stock Exchange, AMC movie theaters, General Electric’s appliance division, General Motors, and Smithfield Foods just to name a few."
"On another alarming note, folks. Chinaowns 384,000 acres of American agricultural land. That's a 30% increase just since 2019.And on top of that, they own land near an air force base in North Dakota. That'sa clear threat to our national securityand that's what the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill is going to address."
Background
According to a2021 reportby the Department of Agriculture,China owns 384,000 acres of American agricultural land; ownership which jumped by 30% from 2019 to 2020.
H.R. 4368, the FY2024 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill:
Supports our rural communities and strengthens our national security and food supply by:
- Continuing critical investments in agriculture research, rural broadband, and animal and plant health programs;
- Providing sufficient funds to ensure the safety of food, drugs, and medical devices;
- Ensuring that low-income Americans have access to nutrition programs;
- Reining in harmful regulations that dictate how poultry and livestock producers raise and market their animals;
- Preventing the purchase of agricultural land by foreign adversaries; and
- Providing a $39 million increase for the Food Safety and Inspection Service to fully fund frontline meat and poultry inspectors.
Reins in wasteful Washington spending and bureaucracy by:
- Redirecting billions in the partisan bills that contained Democrats’ priorities (Inflation Reduction Act) to help America’s producers and rural communities;
- Including a $32 billion decrease in mandatory SNAP spending from FY23 levels due to the end of increased pandemic-era benefits and a decrease in participation rates;
- Restricting the USDA Secretary’s discretionary spending authority on unauthorized, non-emergency programs; and
- Directing USDA to focus hiring efforts in state and county offices to assist producers and rural communities, rather than continuing to bloat the DC bureaucracy.
Cuts to Wasteful Spending:
- Returns WIC benefits provided during COVID to a normal level, with the end of the public health emergency. Benefits will be maintained above pre-pandemic levels to account for food price inflation caused by the Biden economy.
- Rejects President Biden’s proposal for 4,700 new full-time equivalents (FTE) at USDA headquarters in Washington, D.C., saving taxpayers $296 million.
- Saves $1 billion by restricting the discretionary use of the Commodity Credit Corporation.
- Eliminates funding for climate hubs and climate change research.
- Eliminates funding for conservation equity agreements.
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FAQs
According to a 2021 report by the Department of Agriculture, China owns 384,000 acres of American agricultural land; ownership which jumped by 30% from 2019 to 2020.
What foreign country owns the most land in the United States? ›
Of all foreign-owned U.S. land, Canadian investors owned the most at 12.8 million acres. This makes up 31% of all foreign-owned U.S. land. Four other countries held 12.4 million acres combined, or another 31% of foreign-owned land: the Netherlands (12%), Italy (7%), the United Kingdom (6%), and Germany (6%).
Who owns the most U.S. farmland? ›
The Land Report 100 research team analyzes transactions and scours records to determine America's leading landowners. That's how we broke the news in 2020 that Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates was America's largest farmland owner with more than 260,000 acres.
How much land does Canada own in the United States? ›
Controversy continues to grow across the U.S., and China is the primary target of the new rules. However, China doesn't own the most farmland in the U.S., according to a new USDA report. It's actually Canada, which accounts for 32%, or 14.2 million acres.
How much of U.S. farmland is foreign owned? ›
The number of U.S. farm acres owned by foreign entities grew more than 8% in 2022, though the 43.4 million acres of foreign-owned forest and farm land is just 3.4% of the country's agricultural land, said a government report on Dec. 18, 2023. Founded in 1851, Reuters is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters.
What U.S. food companies does China own? ›
The world's largest pork producer, Smithfield Foods, was acquired by China's Shuanghui International in 2013 from American owners for nearly $4.7 billion, making it one of the biggest purchase of an American company by a Chinese firm.
Can Americans own land in China? ›
Yes, China does allow foreigners to buy property. But there are a few requirements you'll need to meet as a US citizen venturing into the Chinese property market. These are the country-wide rules, but there may also be other requirements depending on which region you're looking to buy in.
Does England own land in US? ›
Following Canada, investors from the Netherlands, Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany own 0.37% (4.9 million acres), 0.21% (2.7 million acres), 0.19% (2.5 million acres) and 0.17% (2.3 million acres) of U.S. agricultural land, respectively.
How much farmland does Jeff Bezos own? ›
Ted Turner, the media mogul, also owns 2 million acres of farmland, while Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns over 420,000 acres. Surgeon and author Dr.
Is China buying farmland in the U.S. near military bases? ›
For example, a Chinese company bought farmland in 2021 for acorn-milling facility near an Air Force base in Grand Forks, N.D. Another piece of land in Michigan purchased in 2023 by a Chinese company is situated near the nation's largest National Guard training facility in Grayling.
China held 349,442 acres in 2022, which is slightly less than 1% of foreign-held acres. Forest land accounted for over 48% of all reported foreign held acreage, cropland for over 28%, and pasture and other agricultural land for over 21%.
How many countries own farmland in the United States? ›
As demonstrated in Table 1, the top 10 foreign owners of U.S. agricultural land by acres were Canada, the Netherlands, Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, Portugal, France, Denmark, Luxembourg, and Ireland. Individuals from these countries own three-quarters of the acres owned by foreigners.
How much land does Saudi Arabia own in the United States? ›
China currently holds 384,000 acres of land in the U.S., which is around 1% of all foreign-held acres. The total holdings for Saudi Arabian investors is about 36,000 acres.
