Sponsors
The bill trades expanded national-security protections—by blocking foreign influence over agricultural land and programs and enabling rapid federal action—for increased legal reach and administrative/compliance burdens that may restrict investment, chill international collaboration, and create legal uncertainty for buyers, sellers, and researchers.
Rural communities and U.S. farmers see reduced risk of foreign-controlled purchases of farmland and reduced foreign influence in USDA programs, helping preserve local control and national-security protections for the food supply.
Food-safety operations and inspections remain accessible to qualified experts regardless of origin, reducing the chance of disruptions to food inspections and the food supply chain.
Gives the President explicit authority under IEEPA to block or regulate land purchases quickly in national-security scenarios, enabling faster federal action on risky transactions.
The bill's broad 'covered person' definition risks sweeping in privately owned entities with tenuous ties to listed governments, creating sizable compliance burdens and transaction delays for buyers and sellers in rural areas.
Farmers, researchers, and agricultural businesses could lose access to international research partners, grants, or technical-assistance labeled as 'covered persons,' chilling collaborations and slowing agricultural innovation.
Individuals or entities tied to the governments of China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea are explicitly restricted, which will reduce some foreign investment or transactions in U.S. agricultural land.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Prohibits nationals or entities tied to China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea from buying U.S. agricultural land and bars them from most USDA programs, enforced under IEEPA with penalties.
Introduced July 31, 2025 by Marsha Blackburn · Last progress July 31, 2025
Prohibits individuals and entities tied to the governments of North Korea, Iran, China, or Russia from purchasing agricultural land in any U.S. State, territory, or possession. It directs the President to use authorities under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to implement the ban, applies civil and criminal penalties for violations, and requires barring these covered persons from most USDA programs while exempting food inspection and food-safety regulatory participation.