A Chinese-owned company “infiltrating” the nation became the first to get the boot as Arkansas hit a seed producer with a hefty fine, an order to sell back their land and to stop “stealing American research.”
“This is about where your loyalties lie.”
During a Tuesday press conference, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) followed through with a law signed earlier this year prohibiting “certain foreign parties” from owning farmland and announced 160 acres in Craighead County would be going on the market after connections to China had previously gone undisclosed.
Syngenta, a seed production company headquartered in Switzerland but tied to the Chinese Communist Party-controlled ChemChina, was given two years to sell their land while they were also hit with a maximum fine of $280,000 from Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin after he reported they had failed to disclose their foreign ownership by June. Refusal to pay within 30 days would result in further action.
On X, Sanders, seen flanked by Griffin, Agricultural Secretary Wes Ward and others, posted, “For far too long, we’ve tolerated dangerous governments infiltrating our country. Arkansas will not tolerate them any longer. Today, I announced that Arkansas is becoming the first state in the nation to force a Chinese state-owned company to sell its American farmland.”
For far too long, we’ve tolerated dangerous governments infiltrating our country. Arkansas will not tolerate them any longer.
Today, I announced that Arkansas is becoming the first state in the nation to force a Chinese state-owned company to sell its American farmland. pic.twitter.com/wQXcihdUXa
— Sarah Huckabee Sanders (@SarahHuckabee) October 17, 2023
“This is about where your loyalties lie,” she explained during the press conference. “Seeds are technology. Chinese-owned state corps filter that technology back to their homeland, stealing American research and telling our enemies how to target American farms.”
The move worked in accordance with Act 636, one of the slate of agricultural laws enacted following the 2023 regular session in Arkansas that “prohibits certain foreign parties from acquiring any interest in Arkansas agricultural land, provides penalties for violations [and] creates the Office of Agricultural Intelligence for information analysis and enforcement.”
In their own statement over the move from the Arkansas government, Saswato Das explained to Reuters that Syngenta currently owned 1,500 acres of U.S. land and argued the forced sale would be a detriment to American farmers.
“Our people in Arkansas are Americans led by Americans who care deeply about serving Arkansas farmers. This action hurts Arkansas farmers more than anyone else,” the spokesperson contended. “No one from China has ever directed any Syngenta executive buy, lease, or otherwise engage in land acquisition in the United States.”
“All Syngenta land holdings have been examined by the U.S. government, through two administrations, as Syngenta was transitioning to ChemChina ownership,” the statement continued as Reuters reported that as of Dec. 31, 2021 the USDA had accounted for roughly 40 million acres that foreign entities had interest in. That amounted to about 3.1% of private farmland and about 1.8% of all land in the U.S.
It was also pointed out that China owned less than 1% of the land held by foreign entities whereas Canadian investors possessed around 31%.
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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