Land sale review authority expanding near military bases

The Treasury Department on Monday announced it was moving to expand its review authority related to foreign purchases near U.S. military bases across the country.

A proposed Treasury rule allows the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which reviews real estate transactions near military installations or sensitive U.S. government property, to add more than 50 installations across 30 states to its authority.

The proposed rule would “significantly expand” the jurisdiction of CFIUS, said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, at a time when lawmakers and U.S. officials are expressing deep concerns about Chinese purchases near U.S. bases.

“President Biden and I remain committed to using our strong investment screening tool to defend America’s national security, including actions that protect military installations from external threats,” Yellen said in a statement.

The proposed rule, in response to a recent comprehensive assessment of military bases and sites by the Defense Department, is in a public comment period before it will be finalized.

The rule expands CFIUS jurisdiction by including transactions within a 1-mile radius of 40 U.S. bases; purchases within a 100-mile radius of 19 sensitive sites; and any land buys within 1 mile and 100 miles of eight national security areas already registered for review.

Concerns have mounted in recent years that Chinese purchases of land near U.S. bases or other sensitive sites present a grave risk to national security.

Earlier this year, the White House ordered CFIUS to enforce the sale of land near a major U.S. Air Force base in Wyoming that houses nuclear missiles. The land was purchased by MineOne Partners Limited, a majority Chinese-owned firm.

Lawmakers on the federal and state level have increasingly pushed to restrict Chinese real estate transactions. Some have called for a complete ban of foreign nationals associated with the Chinese government from purchasing public or private agricultural land.

China, however, only makes up about 1 percent of foreign-held land as of 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.