Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin directed Syngenta Seeds, a company under the umbrella of China’s state-owned chemical giant ChemChina, to divest its 160 acres of agricultural land within the state on Tuesday. This decision stems from the state’s Act 636 of 2023, named To Amend the Law Concerning Ownership and Possession of Real Property, which limits foreign ownership of Arkansas’s agricultural land. Instituted with strict penalties for violations, the Act bars particular foreign entities from holding interests in Arkansas’s farming areas.

Integral to Act 636 is its definition of a “prohibited foreign party,” encompassing citizens or residents of countries flagged by federal International Traffic in Arms Regulations, 22 C.F.R. § 126.1, such as Iran, North Korea and China. This regulatory spotlight was intensified with ChemChina’s significant 2017 acquisition of Syngenta. Adding to the scrutiny, the US Department of Defense tagged ChemChina as a “Chinese military company” operating within the U.S. in October 2022.

The mandate from Arkansas officials has been clear and immediate. Attorney General Tim Griffin, supported by Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, has emphasized the vital national security interests and the defense of Arkansas’s agricultural assets. Attorney General Griffin elucidated:

This is the first enforcement action I have taken under the authority granted under Act 636 of 2023 by the General Assembly… The land in question is owned by Northrup King Seed Co., a subsidiary of Syngenta Seeds, LLC… I am ordering ChemChina, as a ‘prohibited foreign-party-controlled business’ to divest this land within two years… Additionally, as the owner failed to file in a timely manner documents required by Act 1046 of 2021… I am also imposing a civil penalty of $280,000…