US proposes new checks on land sales to foreigners near military bases

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) - Buying land near eight U.S. military bases could become more difficult for foreign companies and citizens under a Treasury Department rule proposed by the Biden administration on Friday.

The proposed rule would expand the jurisdiction of the Treasury's Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which reviews foreign investment and real estate transactions for potential national security impacts, to include land near military installations in California, Texas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Arizona.

The Treasury's proposal, published in the U.S. Federal Register, comes after China's Fufeng Group (0546.HK) in 2022 bought 370 acres with plans to build a corn milling plant about 12 miles from Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota. Grand Forks Air Force Base houses air and space operations and includes a unit that operates military drones.

The Air Force, Republican senators and community members voiced opposition to the real estate deal. The Grand Forks City Council in February voted to terminate its development agreement with Fufeng, preventing it from building the mill.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-proposes-new-checks-land-sales-foreigners-near-military-bases-2023-05-05/

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Just heard this on the radio.

Link to the Proposed Rule published in the Federal Register - https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/05/05/2023-09259/provisions-pertaining-to-certain-transactions-by-foreign-persons-involving-real-estate-in-the-united

Rule (PDF) - https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2023-05-05/pdf/2023-09259.pdf

[LiberalFighter]

1. Wow! Should have been done years ago.

[Rebl2]

2. Yep

Surprised it wasn’t done long before now.

[COL Mustard]

6. Probably no one ever thought about it before.

But we certainly don't want foreign entities buying land around our bases. Nor should we allow foreign embassies to have better sites than our embassies have in their home countries. I'm looking at you, Russia, with your line of sight to the Pentagon.

[former9thward]

7. I have been to Moscow.

The US embassy at Bolshoy Devyatinsky Ln 8 is about a 20 minute walking distance from the Russian Ministry of Defense at Znamenka 19. Much closer than the Russian embassy is to the Pentagon.

[IronLionZion]

10. Every embassy is in DC, close enough to Pentagon

US and Russia monitor each other's military facilities despite Trump withdrawing us from the Open Skies Treaty. I doubt Russia cares about having their embassy physically close to the Pentagon. Ukraine's is in Georgetown so it's actually closer.

[PortTack]

3. Really should be more than just near military bases. The saudis are draining water from lands

In AZ. Needs to stop

[oldsoftie]

5. AZ is supposedly working on changing the law to put a stop to that.

We'll see how it goes.

[oldsoftie]

4. China shouldn't be allowed to buy any land anywhere. We cant buy land THERE.

No foreigners can.

[IronLionZion]

8. Would you want to buy land in China?

They have a pretty dead ecosystem with a ridiculous amount of pollution. American land is quite good in comparison.

[oldsoftie]

12. Of course not! They're an adversarial country & we shouldn't be letting them buy OURS

Our state & federal governments need to step up & put a stop to this.
China is alos buying up our companies. Like Smithfield.

[IronLionZion]

9. Why is China milling corn in the US?

[BumRushDaShow]

11. Maybe they wanted to

corner the market?

[2live is 2fly]

14. hehehe, sweet corn

[2live is 2fly]

13. And while we're on the subject, what about those damn Canadians? /s

[Grins]

15. In 1989 Japanese bought a big chunk of Rockefeller Center..

.. as an investment. A lot if Americans didn’t like that one bit. And said so.

Five years later Japan’s economic bubble burst and the investor’s lost billions.

They bought the property but they couldn’t move it to Honshu, so all it did was perk up New York’s real estate market. The Chinese can’t move those acres to Guangdong Province!