FOX Enterprise’ Ashley Webster highlights which inventory is at an all-time excessive and breaks down a brand new invoice to crack down on China shopping for U.S. land on ‘Varney & Co.’
Lawmakers are taking goal at China with just lately launched laws that will deliver extra oversight on international possession of U.S. farmland.
A gaggle of bipartisan lawmakers launched the Agricultural Overseas Funding Disclosure Enhancements Act (AFIDA) this month. The transfer was first reported by Fox Information Digital.
The laws seeks to implement suggestions revealed by the Authorities Accountability Workplace in January 2024, which discovered the AFIDA was ill-equipped to fight international possession of American agricultural land.
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A few of its different measures suggest requiring AFIDA reporting for international individuals holding greater than 1% curiosity in U.S. farmland, boosting the sharing of data between the Committee of Overseas Funding in the USA and the Division of Agriculture and updating the AFIDA handbook, in line with Fox Information Digital.
It could “inform China ‘no,’ principally,” FOX Enterprise’ Ashley Webster mentioned Monday on “Varney & Co.”
(ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP through Getty Photos)
Greater than 277,000 acres of agricultural land was owned by Chinese language traders as of the top of 2023, with that land positioned in states “throughout the nation,” in line with a USDA report.
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Total, international investor holdings of U.S. farmland amounted to almost 45 million acres on the finish of that yr, it mentioned.
U.S. farmland owned by international entities has seen a soar between 2014 and 2023, in line with Webster.
States have been taking motion on the problem in recent times as properly, with Webster noting many “have already got some type of laws that prohibits or limits the acquisition of ag land by international entities and governments.”
A farmer spreads pesticide on a area in Centreville, Md. (JIM WATSON/AFP through Getty Photos/File)
Half of U.S. states bar international possession of farmland “as of April this yr,” Webster reported.
The U.S. had 1.3 billion acres of privately held agricultural land on the finish of 2023, in line with the USDA.
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Chinese language entity possession of American farmland has been a hot-button situation in recent times, notably as battle and competitors between China and the U.S. grows.
Fox Information Digital’s Dierdre Heavey contributed to this report.
