House panel: Reset Sino-U.S. economic relations and expect ag retaliation
China is not willing to play by free-market rules, so the United States should adopt a new, tougher strategy that allows higher import tariffs and other measures to prevent reliance on Beijing, said a House select committee on Tuesday. In anticipation of retaliation, the committee said, the government should look for alternative markets for U.S. food and ag exports, and Congress should consider a new round of trade-war assistance for farmers and ranchers.
Foreign buyers pay a premium for U.S. farmland, says analyst
An analysis of farmland sales in the Midwest and Plains states found foreign investors paid 13.7 percent more than American purchasers for comparable tracts, but the infrequent transactions did not affect land values overall, said Mykel Taylor, an associate professor of agricultural economics at Auburn University, on Tuesday. Foreign ownership is "pretty hot politically" as an issue, she said, and could result in the USDA becoming part of the powerful federal committee that decides if a foreign purchase poses a national security risk.
Tougher scrutiny of land purchases by foreigners proposed
The Agriculture Department and the FDA would become members of a powerful U.S. committee that rules on the national security implications of foreign ownership of U.S. assets under a bipartisan Senate bill unveiled on Tuesday. The legislation would also empower the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), led by the Treasury, to consider retroactive divestment of real estate owned by foreign entities.
Put USDA on panel that reviews foreign investment, say senators
Two senior farm-state senators filed legislation to make USDA a permanent member of the high-powered federal panel that decides whether foreign investment in the United States would impair national security interests. The legislation sponsored by Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley and Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the senior Democrat on the Agriculture Committee, would require the panel to consider the impact of a proposed foreign investment on U.S. food and agricultural systems.
U.S. agency approves ChemChina merger with Syngenta
China National Chemical Corp. said it had received clearance from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States for its $43 billion acquisition of Swiss-based Syngenta, the New York Times reported. The approval removed one of the biggest potential challenges to the deal, the paper said.
Bill would add USDA to U.S. review of foreign investors
Senate Judiciary chairman Charles Grassley is sponsoring a bill to make USDA a permanent member of the U.S. panel that decides if foreign purchases of U.S. companies impinge on national security. "This bill will raise the stature of agriculture ... so we don't make the mistake of selling too much control of our food supply to foreign countries," Grassley told reporters.
USDA gets seat at the table for review of ChemChina-Syngenta merger
The Obama administration has added USDA to the secretive inter-departmental Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States for its review of the merger of state-owned ChemChina and Swiss-based Syngenta, said Reuters. Farm-state senators wanted USDA to be included in the review to make …