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US-China relations
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Work on Chinese milling project in North Dakota halted over US national security review

  • Fufeng USA asked to supplement ‘insufficient’ information it provided so that foreign investment committee can better assess risk level
  • Construction pause a victory for opponents of project whose US$700 million facility sits near an American military base

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A sign in Grand Forks, North Dakota, where Fufeng USA’s project has sparked controversy among some residents who are wary of the Chinese company. Photo: Craig Spicer
Khushboo Razdan
A North Dakota mayor is pausing construction work on a controversial Chinese milling project in his city after a US federal inter-agency body charged with assessing national security risks involving foreign investments sought more details about the venture.
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Brandon Bochenski, mayor of Grand Forks, announced on Thursday that construction of both a raw water supply system and waste-water pump system for Fufeng USA, a subsidiary of Chinese agribusiness giant Fufeng, would come to a halt while work involving joint infrastructure in the city would continue.

Information provided by Fufeng USA to date was “insufficient”, according to a letter sent to the company on Thursday by Andrew Fair, staff chair of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). Fair requested a follow-up filing with the committee within the next five days.

Fufeng USA said in a statement on Friday that it remained “open and cooperative” and was looking forward to “a successful completion of the CFIUS process and will work diligently to make that happen”.

The additional submission and review process will run between about 45 to 90 days, with information to be provided by multiple parties including Fufeng USA and the former property owners of the land where the project is located.

City Administrator Todd Feland said the committee was “attempting to determine if the purchase of land in Grand Forks by Fufeng constitutes the purchase of a US business”.

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If Fufeng is deemed to have bought a US business, then CFIUS would conclude that it has “authority to review the substance of the transaction and address any national security issues” arising from it, Feland said

Grand Forks city officials in February approved what they described as a US$700 million “development agreement” with Fufeng USA to build a 370-acre (150-hectare) wet corn mill plant. They say the plant will generate jobs, ramp up tax revenues and upgrade infrastructure in the city of around 58,000 residents.

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