Trump to speak on China buying US farmland, food supply concerns
(NewsNation) — Former President Donald Trump is visiting western Pennsylvania on Monday to speak at an event held by the Protecting America Initiative, a nonprofit spotlighting the potential risk posed by the Chinese Communist Party to the U.S. agriculture system.
If he wins in November, Trump has vowed to ban Chinese nationals from buying U.S. farmland.
China being part of a marijuana foreign black market in Oklahoma and amassing farmland have been concerns for Americans this year.
The latest U.S. governmental data from 2021 showed that China owns less than 1% of foreign-owned land, while Canada owns the most at over 30%.
However, China has purchased more land within the last three years. Should the Chinese Communist Party gain control over essential parts of the food supply chain, it could lead to future disruptions or manipulation of the supply of critical food resources, critics argue.
Last June, the Treasury Department announced proposed new rules that would give the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, known as CFIUS, the ability to block Chinese corporations from owning land near U.S. military bases.
Chinese billionaire Chen Tianqiao ranked 82nd in a list of U.S. top landowners in a report released in January after purchasing 200,000 acres of timberlands in Oregon in 2015.