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 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.
North Dakota Senator Kevin Cramer welcomed news of the
proposed rule, which could have blocked the land sale to Fufeng.
"This is a good first step to bolster reviews and mitigate
threats similar to what we saw with Fufeng," Cramer said in a
statement on Thursday.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Katharine Jackson; Editing by
Conor Humphries)
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.
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