Debates began to heat up around the country regarding farmland sale restrictions to foreign nationals following reports of a Chinese spy balloon flying over Montana.
Montana’s Governor Greg Gioforte has prohibited selling or leasing Montana’s ag land to foreign adversaries near military assets.
“Montana will not stand idly by as foreign adversaries buy up our farmland, harvest private data, and spy on Americans,” Gov. Gianforte said. “Today, we’re doing what the Biden administration won’t to defend our economic security, food security, and national security assets.”
The ban, which applies to foreign adversaries and corporations headquartered within those nations, goes into effect later this year following the governor’s signature today of Senate Bill 203, sponsored by Sen. Ken Bogner, R-Miles City. The ban applies to corporations headquartered within the governments of China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Venezuela.
The new law defines foreign adversaries as “any foreign government or foreign nongovernment person determined by the U.S. secretary of commerce to have engaged in a long-term pattern or serious instances of conduct significantly adverse to the national security of the United States or the security and safety of the people of the United States.”
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Last year, China purchased U.S. farmland in Grand Forks, North Dakota, located in proximity to Grand Forks Air Force Base, causing many to question whether this purchase had national security implications.
Although the ban applies only to land near military assets, China will likely not be happy about the new law in Montana, especially if other states follow suit.
The country’s foreign ministry had responded in Feb. to U.S. propositions to ban Chinese purchases of U.S. property. “Generalizing the concept of national security and politicizing economic, trade, and investment issues violate the rules of market economy and international trade rules,” spokesperson Mao Ning said at a regular press briefing.
According to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Chinese ownership of farmland in the United States multiplied by 20-fold from 2010 to 2020. In 2010, China owned $81 million in assets of land in the United States, and in 2020, those holdings had increased to $1.8 billion.
Fourteen U.S. states already have laws restricting ag land investment by foreign countries. Over the past few years, over a dozen states have created new bills to restrict foreign land purchases.
