CHICAGO, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Arkansas ordered Syngenta to sell 160 acres (65 hectares) of farmland in the U.S. state within two years on Tuesday because the company is Chinese-owned, drawing a sharp rebuke from the global seeds producer.
U.S. farm groups and lawmakers are increasingly scrutinizing foreign land ownership due to concerns about national security.
"Our people in Arkansas are Americans led by Americans who care deeply about serving Arkansas farmers," Das said.
The state also fined Syngenta $280,000 for failure to report foreign ownership in a timely manner.
"All Syngenta land holdings have been examined by the U.S. government, through two administrations, as Syngenta was transitioning to ChemChina ownership," Das said.
Persons:
Syngenta, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Saswato Das, Das, Tim Griffin, Griffin, Northrup, Huckabee Sanders, Tom Polansek, Jonathan Oatis
Organizations:
BASF, Bayer, Sinochem Holdings Corp, Northrup King Seed, Syngenta, U.S . Department of Agriculture, U.S ., Thomson
Locations:
Arkansas, U.S, Craighead County, China, ChemChina, Shanghai