Christopher Pilkerton, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the Treasury Department's assistant secretary for investment security (see 2506040013), said Sept. 4 that he would aim to increase compliance with U.S. requirements for foreign investment.
The Trump administration plans to take several steps to address foreign ownership of American farmland, including pursuing congressional and state legislation and executive action to ban purchases by China and other foreign “adversaries,” USDA announced July 8.
The House approved bills late June 23 dealing with anti-piracy sanctions and foreign investment in U.S. farmland.
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture approved an FY 2026 appropriations bill June 5 that would add the USDA to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to review agricultural transactions. A similar provision was included in an FY 2024 appropriations law (see 2403110058). The new bill also would provide funding to improve the tracking system for foreign-owned agricultural land.
The House Financial Services Committee unanimously approved several bills March 5 dealing with foreign investment and sanctions.
Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., and Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., reintroduced a bill Feb. 25 that would add the agriculture secretary to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to review agricultural transactions. The Protecting American Agriculture from Foreign Adversaries Act was referred to the Senate Banking Committee and the House Financial Services, Foreign Affairs and Energy and Commerce committees. The full House passed the bill in September, in the previous Congress (see 2409110045).
A new White House memo on President Donald Trump’s “America-first investment policy” previews efforts to expand both inbound and outbound foreign investment restrictions, tamp down on the use of mitigation agreements, fast-track investment deals from certain allies and more.
Crystal Saleh, formerly a supervisor for Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. issues at USDA, is no longer with the government after being "impacted" by the Trump administration's sweeping cuts of employees who are still on probationary status, she announced on LinkedIn. Saleh had been with USDA since February 2024, where she oversaw projects related to CFIUS compliance and agriculture.
Republican lawmakers reintroduced several bills Jan. 22 aimed at curbing the acquisition of American land by certain foreign countries.
Scott Bessent, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for Treasury secretary, said Jan. 16 that the U.S. should institute a “very rigorous screening process” to ensure its outbound investment does not help China catch up to the U.S. in such key technology areas as artificial intelligence, computing chips, quantum computing and surveillance.