BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — It’s been three years since a Chinese company’s plan to develop a swath of farmland near a North Dakota Air Force base prompted local security concerns and led to a rush of legislation across the country, but calls for restrictions keep coming.
If anything, the demand by state legislators and Congress to get tough on China has only grown, even as some say the restrictions they support are more about politics than national security.
As Republican North Dakota U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer put it, the dispute “sounded the alarm” about Chinese investment in the U.S.
Regardless of whether that alarm was merited, it’s clear that since the Grand Forks Air Force Base dispute — and a Chinese balloon’s journey over the U.S. about the same time — proposals to restrict foreign ownership of farmland have soared. Lawmakers in dozens of states proposed such laws in the next couple years, and more than 20 states now have instituted restrictions.
Indiana, Missouri, Texas and other states also have blocked public pension funds from investing in China, and states such as Arkansas, Florida and Tennessee now have bans on public agencies buying widely used Chinese-made drones. Congress also has taken action, stopping future sales of two Chinese companies’ drones in the U.S. if an evaluation finds they present “an unacceptable risk” to national security and proposing a national ban on farmland sales to businesses from China.
President Donald Trump’s criticism of China and his decision to impose a 10% tariff on its goods — prompting the country to respond with its own tariffs — appears to have encouraged state legislators to keep pushing for more restrictions.
Lawmakers across the country appear eager to pursue limits on China with bills for restrictions on farmland, drones and investments introduced this year in more than a half-dozen states, from Arizona to South Carolina.
Cramer gives his home state much of the credit for a surge in skepticism toward China, saying the Grand Forks City Council’s decision to block the proposed wet corn milling plant after the Air Force raised concerns laid out a roadmap for other officials.
“It also served as the example to other communities and states that if you want to stop the takeover by the Chinese Communist party of our food supply chain while at the same time spying on our military bases, do what we did,” Cramer said.
Republican state Sen. Jeff Magrum said the controversy “really did open a lot of eyes, not just in North Dakota but nationally.”
Despite the concerns, foreign individuals and businesses own a relatively small portion of U.S. farmland.
