Tim Scott hits Chinese Communist Party, touts ethanol in Iowa ad

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) is targeting the Chinese Communist Party over purchasing farmland in Iowa and touts his support of ethanol production in a new radio ad in the early voting state.

“Sen. Tim Scott is a conservative fighter for American farmers. Tim Scott supports the renewable fuel standard and believes E15 should be sold year-round,” a narrator says in the one-minute ad released Monday.

“Scott is working to pass a new farm bill that will strengthen our food security and create economic growth in rural communities, and he’s fighting to stop the Chinese Communist Party from buying up our farmland,” the ad continues.

Scott in the radio spot vows that “as president, I’ll support the production of ethanol and other homegrown biofuels.”

“I will stop China from buying our farmland, and I will fight for fair trade to ensure our farmers have access to foreign markets. God bless Iowa and the bountiful harvest you provide to our nation each and every year,” he adds.

The new spot, which Scott’s team says is part of a six-figure radio ad campaign in Iowa, comes as his campaign lasers in on the Hawkeye State.

Scott has polled third behind former President Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in several recent polls in the nation’s first caucus state, where other candidates like DeSantis have also focused recently.

The emphasis in the ad on blocking Chinese investment in U.S. farmland echoes concerns raised by other Republicans in Congress and across the country about China, though members of both parties have scrutinized foreign investment in general.

Sens. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) earlier this year introduced legislation that would review certain foreign entities’ leases and purchases of agricultural land in the U.S. and would more heavily scrutinize foreign entities looking to buy land.  

A Department of Agriculture report for 2021 showed Chinese entities managed 383,935 acres in the U.S. — less than 1 percent of the total acreage in the country held by foreign entities. 

The report noted that between 2011 and 2021, “forest land increased from roughly 13.8 million to 19.2 million acres, cropland increased from roughly 4.9 million to 11.8 million acres, and pasture land increased from approximately 6.0 million acres to nearly 7.3 million acres,” regarding foreign-held agricultural land in the U.S.

Scott’s ad also nods at Iowa’s position as a critical producer of ethanol in the U.S. The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association noted earlier this year that 4.5 billion gallons of ethanol were produced in the state in 2022 — surpassing a 2021 record of 4.4 billion gallons.