New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, who ranks third in House Republican leadership, cited national security concerns a week after a House committee voted to prohibit China from purchasing agricultural land in the United States.
The “Promoting Agriculture Safeguards and Security Act” sponsored by Rep. Stefanik and Arkansas Rep. Rick Crawford, would ban Russia, Iran and North Korea, as well as China, from “any merger, acquisition or takeover that would result in foreign control of a U.S. agricultural company.”
The restrictions were proposed at the same time business groups sought removal of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods.