According to the Associated Press, Northwest Arkansas Online and other media reports, the state of Arkansas ordered Northrup King, the U.S. subsidiary of Syngenta Seeds, LLC, to divest 160 acres of agricultural land it owns, It was the first action under a new wave of laws restricting foreign ownership of farmland across the country. Some experts commented: "After the chip, the next battlefield may be food, seeds."
According to Syngenta's press release, in May 2017, China National Chemical Corporation (ChemChina) acquired 80.7 percent of the company's shares. The company's legal address is Wilmington, Delaware. According to its federal disclosure, the company said the "land owner entity" changed from Switzerland to China in 2017.
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin said that under legislation passed by the Republican-majority legislature and signed earlier this year by Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, King Northrop Seed has two years to divest the Craighead County property. Griffin also announced that he would impose a civil penalty of $280,000, or 25 percent of the value of the site, on the company for failing to disclose its ownership in a timely manner, according to a press release.
At a news conference at the state Capitol on Tuesday, Sanders said land in Arkansas owned by a Syngenta subsidiary is used for seed research and that the company's ownership of land in northeast Arkansas is a major security concern.
"The seed is the technology." "Chinese state-owned companies are leaking this technology back into their home country, stealing American research and telling our competitors how to target American farms," Sanders said. This is a clear threat to our national security and our great farmers."
The state forced Syngenta to divest its ownership of land in Arkansas, the first such move since a newly passed state law took effect. Act 636 "prohibits foreign-controlled enterprises" from owning agricultural land in Arkansas. Under the federal International Traffic in Arms Regulations, countries that are prohibited from owning agricultural land in the state are on the list, including China.
Concerns about foreign ownership of farmland have been growing in many states. Prior to this year, 14 states had laws prohibiting or restricting foreign ownership and investment in private farmland. But that number surged to 24 states this year as lawmakers in nearly three-quarters of states considered legislation on the subject, according to the National agricultural Law Center at the University of Arkansas.
According to Micah Brown, a staff attorney at the Agricultural Law Center, the Arkansas attorney general's enforcement action is the first in a series of new laws, many of which specifically target investments from China, Iran, North Korea and Russia. The surge in state laws targeting land ownership by certain foreigners represents a "political hot spot," Brown said, stemming from a number of highly publicized cases of entities linked to China buying land near military bases in North Dakota and Texas. In February, a balloon suspected of being a Chinese spy made a trek across the United States, sparking interest in restricting balloon launches in some states.
Under Arkansas law, if a company does not divest land, the state can take action in court. Griffin did not say whether the state has identified other foreign-owned lands that would trigger similar actions under the new law.
Syngenta said it was disappointed by the state's decision regarding its land, which it has owned since 1988. The company said no one from China directed its executives to buy, lease or otherwise participate in the land acquisition. "The order requiring Syngenta to divest the 160 acres of agricultural land the company has owned in Craighead County since 1988 is a shortsighted action that fails to take into account the impact, whether intentional or unintentional, of such action on the U.S. agricultural market," a Syngenta spokesman said in a statement.
Us state takes action against Syngenta: On national security grounds
2023 10/20