How Did the U.S. National Debt Get So Big? As of the start of 2020, Chinese investors owned about 192,000 acres of U.S. agricultural land valued at about $1.9 billion, according to Politico. "Under China's Communist Party dictatorship, private companies are forced to bend to the government's will," the report states. The American Security Institute recently released a report and launched a campaign, featuring a billboard in Times Square, to draw further attention to the extensive array of sectors the Chinese government and its partners have invested into. In, National Association of Realtors. The data is based on a 1978 law directing foreign nationals to report their U.S. agricultural holdings to USDA a requirement that can be difficult for the department to enforce. In 2019, Chinese nationals purchased 6,300 properties in the United States, generating about 4.5 billion U.S. dollars in sales. All rights reserved. America's farmland is owned by a variety of people and entities, including individuals, companies, and government bodies . Foreign entities buy agricultural land for a variety of reasons, such as food production, wind farming, carbon offsets, or speculative investments. The U.S. farmer population is aging, with an average age of 57.5 in 2017, up from 55 in 2012. "Total Number of Residential Properties Purchased by Chinese Buyers in The United States from 2010 to 2022. WH Group is a publicly-traded company with shareholders around the world. Total number of residential properties purchased by Chinese buyers in the United States from 2010 to 2022 [Graph]. When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site. (Other Hollywood companies are partly or wholly owned by Chinese interests We know that education is one of the most common reasons that Chinese families purchase real estate in the US, he said. Two bills introduced in the House of Representatives and the Senate argue foreign influence on American agricultural land could affect Americas economy, food supply, and national security. While around 3.2% of the national debt isn't exactly insignificant, the Treasury Department has had no problems finding buyers for its products even after a rating downgrade. Nonagricultural land (such as homesteads and roads) accounted for 2%. Gates is No. The United States owes China approximately $980.8 billion as of May 2022. Haier bought GE for $5.4 billion, a recording breaking sum at that time. But its the trend of increasing purchases and the buyers potential connections to the Chinese government that have lawmakers spooked. In 2017, the United States imported $4.6 billion in agricultural goods from China, which is also responsible for much of the global supply of soy and pea proteins that are found in nutritional supplements and synthetic meats. The House passed the agriculture appropriations bill on July 29, raising questions about how it will be enforced if it becomes law. Securities. What is the highest credit limit for Chase Sapphire? China, which owns an estimated $972 billion in U.S. Treasuries, is the number-two investor among foreign governments, according to the August 2022 figures released by the U.S. Treasury. Appliances (technology), IBMP.C. Alibaba handles more business than any other e-commerce company. China produces 97 percent of U.S. antibiotics and about 80 percent of active pharmaceutical ingredients used in American drugs, giving the Chinese Communist Party absolute control of. A few states, including top agricultural centers like Iowa and Minnesota, already have varying restrictions on foreign ownership of their farmland. Foreign investors by the end of 2019 held an interest in more than 35 million acres an area bigger than New York State. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! That's when the U.S. Department of the Treasury changed how it measures the debt. In simpler terms, the government wrote itself a really big IOU and bankrupted one account to finance another activity. AMC. When the pandemic hit, Smithfield increased pork exports to China even as the United States experienced widespread meat shortages due to supply chain disruptions and Smithfield closed some of its plants due to poor working conditions. Representative Grace Meng expressed concern that the amendment could fuel already rising anti-Asian hate, and the USDA and advocacy groups have pointed out that the USDA does not have the authority to intervene in private land deals. TreasuryDirect. That made the yuan more attractive to forex traders in global markets. Individuals can buy and sell U.S. debt, as can central banks for countries like China. As it is not known exactly how much US land is owned by China. China Daily, which is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, has paid more than $4.6 million to The Washington Post and . Across the country, the 2013 purchase of Smithfield Foods by the Chinese firm Shuanghui, now called WH Group, received national attention and escalated concerns about Chinese intervention in U.S. food systems. Read our. Then you can access your favorite statistics via the star in the header. U.S. Debt to China: How Much Is It, and Why? Japanese-owned debt doesn't receive nearly as much negative attention as Chinese-owned debt, ostensibly because Japan is seen as a friendlier nation and the Japanese economy hasn't grown as fast as China's year after year. However, there are some countriessuch as Niger, Cambodia, and Laoswhose debt to China is more than 20% of their GDP. The National Young Farmers Coalition (NYFC) anticipates that two-thirds of farmland will change hands over the next decade as farmers retire, meaning that more land could become available for foreign purchase. Scrutiny of foreign-owned agricultural operations receiving taxpayer subsidies has also been rising in recent years after meatpacking conglomerates like the U.S. subsidiary of Brazilian-owned JBS received millions of dollars under the Trump administrations trade bailout starting in 2018. For example, the huge amount of debt that the U.S. government owes Chinese lenders has been the subject of countless debates, headline news stories, and political platforms for decades. The top two foreign holders of U.S. debt are Japan and China. (July 18, 2022). However, the full extent of the Chinese investment as it stands in the U.S. today is far from transparent. National Association of Realtors. China is taking steps to make its currency, the yuan, transition to a global currency. From May 2021 to May 2022, the debt to Japan and China decreased by 4% and 9%, respectively. There are two main economic reasons Chinese lenders bought up so many U.S. Treasury securities. Anyone anywhere can purchase shares of WH Group on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Its economy grew more than 10% for the three decades before the 2008 recession. The Chinese spy balloon shot down February 4 increased worries that foreign governments could use U.S. land for espionage efforts, reports the Journal. Investopedia requires writers to use primary sources to support their work. This statistic shows the total number of residential properties purchased by Chinese buyers in the United States from 2010 to 2021. By the start of 2020, Chinese owners controlled about 192,000 agricultural acres in the U.S., worth $1.9 billion, including land used for farming, ranching and forestry, according to the Agriculture Department. Foreign-owned land accounts for about 2.7% of all U.S. farmland and forest land, which, according to the Department of Agriculture, is about 897 million acres. Popular cinema company AMC, short for American Multi-Cinema, has been around for over a century and is headquartered in Leawood, KS. By the start of 2020, Chinese owners controlled about 192,000 agricultural acres in the U.S., worth $1.9 billion, including land used for farming, ranching and forestry, according to the. That's a large portion of the $7.6 trillion in Treasury bills, notes, and bonds held by foreign countries. United States Treasury Fiscal Data. 1 Yes, this means that the government actually borrows money from itself to fund these and other entitlement programs. These are especially vital not only for high-technology products such as smartphones and electric vehicles but for U.S. frontline weapons including the F-35 fighter, which requires 920 pounds of rare earth minerals. In fact, research firm Gartner revealed last year that a third of supply chain leaders had plans to move at least some of their manufacturing out of China before 2023. China acquired another 32,000 U.S. agricultural acres in 2021not as much as they scooped up in 2020, but 98% higher than their combined growth between 2015 and 2019. Access to this and all other statistics on 80,000 topics from, Show sources information Walmart owns no shares. SWINE FLU STRAIN WITH 'HUMAN PANDEMIC POTENTIAL' FOUND IN MORE CHINESE PIGS, SCIENTISTS SAY. That move followed a contentious debate over the potential consequences for Asian Americans if Congress adopted a provision aimed squarely at China. The Pentagon released a list of 20 companies that it says are owned or controlled by Communist China's military and operate in the US - including tech giant Huawei, according to a report. Of the total 7.03 trillion held by foreign countries, Japan and Mainland China held the greatest portions. The answer to that question seems to be a constant source of controversy among Americas political leaders and media commentators. Milos Maricic, an international affairs expert and World Economic Forum contributor, concurred that while China owns close to $150 billion in U.S. companies not particularly huge in comparison to the U.S. economy there is a lot about the available figure that we simply do not know. The last significant increase in acres occurred between 2012 and 2013 . Currently, you are using a shared account. Accessed March 04, 2023. https://www.statista.com/statistics/611020/total-number-of-properties-purchased-by-chinese-buyers-in-the-us/. This drives China to accumulate U.S. dollars as foreign exchange (forex) reserves. Of that, 195,000 acres, worth almost $2 billion when purchased, are owned by 85 Chinese investors, which could be individuals, companies or the government. Please do not hesitate to contact me. How Much Money Does the U.S. Chinese agricultural land ownership only increased about 550 acres from 2015 to 2019. But the contrition paid off: F9 grossed $136 million in China its first weekend, nearly double its . Though the magazine named him the largest private farmland owner in January 2021, the Microsoft founder came under fire in early 2022 when he was briefly barred from purchasing 2,100 acres of North Dakota farmland. RT @lillybug000: How much more does any American have to see to realize our government is owned by China. "Major Foreign Holders of Treasury Securities [2000-2020]. Financing for these huge annual IOUs comes from the Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve. ", U.S. Department of the Treasury. This series of events prompted Congress to look at how to prevent Chinese ownership in U.S. agriculture, even though other foreign entities, like Brazilian-owned JBS, control similarly large portions of U.S. food supply chains. The United States owes China approximately $980.8 billion as of May 2022. This compensation may impact how and where listings appear. Indeed, there has been a tenfold expansion of Chinese ownership of farmland in the United States in less than a decade. According to the data, the value of foreign-owned American assets climbed to $32.5 trillion in the second quarter, while total foreign assets held by. The debt ceiling is a limit that Congress imposes on the amount that the federal government can owe. Definition and Impact. This helps China hold down the cost of its exported goods, which tends to make China, like any nation, a stronger performer in international trade. The ideal entry-level account for individual users. You only have access to basic statistics. Missouri had formerly banned all foreign ownership of agricultural land in the state, but one week before Shuanghui took over Smithfield, that rule changed to allow foreign entities to own up to 1 percent of the states farmland. Texas has the largest amount of foreign-held agricultural land, at 4.4 million acres, followed by Maine and Alabama, according to USDA. The company was founded in Smithfield, Virginia, in 1936 and was acquired by Hong Kong-based WH Group in 2013. China has the second-greatest amount of U.S. debt held by a foreign country. From 2016, the estimates include only residential transactions. Smithfield was also in line to receive money from the program, which was created to help U.S. farmers strung by trade retaliation from China and other competitors. Citing national security concerns, the House Appropriations Committee included an amendment in the recent Department of Agriculture-Food and Drug Administration spending bill that prohibits the purchase of agricultural land located in the United States by Chinese-owned companies. The call for tighter limits on who owns Americas farms has come from a wide range of political leaders, from former Vice President Mike Pence to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass. Since this strategy is dependent on exportsover $ 452.58 billion of which went to the U.S. in 2020China needs ever-more renminbi to continue to have a lower currency exchange rate than the U.S. dollar, and thus offer cheaper prices for the products it exports. Does paying off all debt increase credit score? Outward FDI stock share of state-owned and private enterprises in China 2011-2021 FDI outflows from Chinese central enterprises in non-financial sectors 2011-2021 Value of Chinese FDI flows to the . ", International Monetary Fund. US PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY AIMS TO WREST SOME DRUG PRODUCTION BACK FROM CHINA. Subsequently, China and other international players would be obligated to accede to an audit that can be reviewed by the nonprofit Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, which oversees audits of all U.S. companies that endeavor to raise money in public markets. The best of the best: the portal for top lists & rankings: Strategy and business building for the data-driven economy: Industry-specific and extensively researched technical data (partially from exclusive partnerships). This acquisition put two Chinese directors on Hilton's Board of 10. U.S. Department of the Treasury. Most of the rest of the U.S. debt is owned by individual investors, corporations and other public entitiesincluding foreign creditors like the Chinese government. Defining Alibaba Alibaba is China's and by some measures, the world's biggest online commerce company. IOUs are formed and financed through joint efforts of the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve. According to USDA data, foreign investors owned at least 35.2 million acres of U.S. agricultural land in 20192.7 percent of U.S. farmland, an area almost the size of Iowa. Investopedia does not include all offers available in the marketplace. White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement that the United States welcomes the commitments of Israel and the Palestinian Authority to reduce tensions and prevent further violence. The largest holder of U.S. debt is the United States government. Critics claim that the rule change was instrumental in allowing the deal to go through as written, and some members of Congress warned of Chinese government involvement in the purchase.