Chinese-owned Syngenta ordered to sell its ag land in Arkansas

Syngenta, a company owned by the Chinese government, will be forced to sell 160 acres of agricultural land it owns in Craighead County, Gov. Sarah Sanders said Tuesday (Oct. 17). The Arkansas Legislature passed Act 636, which bans entities from several countries including China, from owning agricultural land in the state.

Arkansas is the first state in the country to act in this regard, Sanders said.

“Syngenta must give up its land holdings in Arkansas,” she said. “This is a clear threat to our national security, and it’s a clear threat to our state.”

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin said the company will have two years to sell the land that, according to the company’s filings, is worth about $1.12 million. The land is used to develop and test seed technologies.

“Seeds are technology,” Sanders said.

Chinese corporations funnel research and information back to the country’s government, Sanders said. American technology is stolen in this process, and it gives them and other countries a better understanding of how to attack our farms if they need too, she added.

Act 1046, enacted in 2021, requires foreign entities that own land in the state to report it. Syngenta missed the reporting deadline, and it will have to pay a fine of 25% of the value of the land, or $280,000.

Griffin will send the company a letter outlining the state’s actions towards the company. The fine will have to be paid within the next 30 days. If the company doesn’t sell the land, the AG’s office will take the case to court, he said. It wasn’t clear what the repercussions would be if the fine wasn’t paid.

“I have full confidence they will divest themselves of the property and pay the fine,” he said.

When asked if there were any other foreign-owned companies under scrutiny in the state as it relates to this law, Griffin remained mum.

Before the action was taken, Syngenta was fully investigated, Arkansas Agriculture Secretary Wes Ward said. He had already notified the company that this decision was looming.

“The case is pretty clear. We’ve done a thorough review,” he said. “Today, with the governor’s help, we are sending a strong message.”

China has multiple State Owned Enterprises, or SOE’s. One of those SOE’s, ChemChina, is the parent company of Syngenta. According to Syngenta’s website, it’s an ag-tech company that employs 30,000 with holdings in 90 different countries. Its focuses include seed development, crop protection, biofuels and other agriculture-related endeavors.

Last year, ChemChina was added to the United States Department of Defense’s list of Chinese-controlled “military companies” that either directly or indirectly work at the behest of the country’s military.

Sanders said the actions taken on Tuesday were not meant to deter Chinese Americans or others from living in Arkansas or investing in other ways in the state.

“This isn’t about where you’re from. We welcome Chinese Americans. We welcome Russian Americans and anyone else who has given up foreign oppression for American freedom. This is about where your loyalties lie,” she said.