The United States is expanding surveillance of foreigners’ real estate transactions in homes near military installations, the Treasury Department said on Monday, as considerations grow over China’s land purchases.
“President (Joe) Biden and I remain committed to employing our powerful investment tool physically to preserve U. S. national security, adding moves to protect military installations from external threats,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement.
Under a proposed rule, more than 50 services will be added to a list of sites where surrounding real estate transactions can be reviewed through the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), bringing the total number to 227.
CFIUS’ jurisdiction covers the purchase of land.
The fear is that acquiring or leasing certain homes through a foreigner will allow them to gather intelligence or “expose national security activities” to foreign surveillance risks, the Treasury said.
Among the sites proposed to be added is Camp Grayling in Michigan, about 100 miles (160 miles) from where Chinese electric vehicle battery maker Gotion plans to build a facility.
Republican Congressman John Moolenaar of Michigan has opposed Gotion’s plans, raising safety concerns.
A senior Treasury official said CFIUS’ jurisdiction was “country-independent” and did not specify whether the latest rule was intended to mitigate considerations aimed at express countries such as China or Russia.
In May, U. S. officials announced that a Chinese cryptocurrency company was banned from landing near a strategic U. S. nuclear missile base on national security grounds.
MineOne Partners Limited has been ordered to dispose of the land it purchased in 2022, less than a mile from Francis E Air Force Base. Warren of Wyoming, home of the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles.
CFIUS also raised considerations about the on-the-ground installation of “specialized” cryptocurrency mining rigs that are “potentially capable of facilitating surveillance and espionage activities. “