(IntegrityTimes.com) – On Monday July 8, the U.S. Treasury Department announced their plan to expand the Treasury committee’s jurisdiction to include land deals near military bases when foreign buyers are involved. The expansion would allow the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to extend their reach to include 56 additional military sites. CFIUS is the government entity that is responsible for investigating any corporate transactions which may potentially present risks to national security.
This will expand on the 2018 legislative act that originally gave CFIUS the power to evaluate real estate sales near sensitive locations in the U.S. The committee includes representatives from various governmental bodies, including the Departments of State, Justice, Commerce, Energy, Commerce as well as others. The CFIUS can mandate changes in ownership structures or even force companies to divest entirely from the U.S. This expansion of the committee’s authority comes after several years of increasing worries that land sales involving foreign buyers could present national security risks.
Of particular concern are sales to foreign investors involving properties close to U.S. military bases. In response to these concerns the federal government, and several states independently, have begun to revise certain regulations regarding land purchases near military bases. In May, President Joe Biden issued a directive to prevent a Chinese-backed cryptocurrency mining company from purchasing land near a Wyoming missile base. In 2021, the Chinese Fufeng Group’s land purchase just 12 miles from Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota raised similar concerns. Local government initially supported the $700 million corn milling project for economic reasons, but the U.S. Air Force considered it a significant threat, so the deal was cancelled.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen released a statement saying that the Biden administration is committed to using their “strong investment screening tool” to protect the nation’s security. The proposed rule will be available for public comment for a period of 30 days. It is vitally important for any sovereign nation to stay ahead of evolving security threats by adapting existing policies or creating new ones to meet those challenges. While some may worry that CFIUS’s work could impact local economies or increase international tensions, others say they prevent security risk from growing into serious threats.
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