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    • Foreign acquisitions around Michigan military bases need review
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    Foreign acquisitions around Michigan military bases need review

    Harry Posted on

    Foreign acquisitions around Michigan military bases need review

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    Real estate transactions by foreign entities within one mile of Detroit Arsenal or 100 miles of Camp Grayling – Gotion Inc. Including a proposed vehicle battery facility in Big Rapids by The incident, which has raised concerns about Chinese infiltration, will now face potential scrutiny from government officials under the final rule released Friday.

    A senior Treasury Department official confirmed to the Free Press on Friday that the rule expanding the powers of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) will be finalized, meaning it will go into effect within a month. Its scope includes the Detroit Arsenal in Warren and Camp Grayling in the northern Lower Peninsula, as well as the largest National Guard training facility in the United States.

    Gotion, an American firm whose parent company is based in China and appears to have ties to the Chinese Communist Party, is building an electric vehicle battery factory about 60 miles from Camp Grayling. Republican critics and local opponents of the project, as well as state support for the project They described it as a security risk. Some Democrats, including U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, have also called for further scrutiny of Gotion’s plans, but CFIUS has previously said it does not have the authority to review this under its existing rule.

    In July, CFIUS is chaired by the Treasury Department. In coordination with the Department of Defense, it issued a new rule to expand its authority to include real estate transactions near more than 60 military bases in 30 states. CFIUS has the authority to impose restrictions and conditions on proposed agreements or recommend that the White House block or reverse them if it determines there is a national security risk.

    When the proposal to expand CFIUS was announced in July, U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Caledonia, who serves as chairman of the House committee investigating China’s rivalry with the United States, said that once finalized, Treasury’s “first move… This is the newly added Camp Grayling.” “This should also be another sign that state and local leaders should withdraw their support for Gotion, which is located within 100 miles of China.”

    But Moolenaar also argued that the rule still leaves the door open to firms with ties to foreign adversaries to purchase U.S. properties without mandatory national security reviews. “Congress needs to close this massive loophole to protect American national security,” he said at the time.

    Announcing the final rule on Friday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellin said it would “significantly increase CFIUS’s ability to comprehensively review real estate transactions near bases and enable us to deter and stop foreign adversaries from threatening our Armed Forces, including through intelligence gathering.” .”

    Contact Todd Spangler: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter@tsspangler.

    Harry
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