States are Increasingly Taking Policy Action Against China

The U.S. has increasingly tightened trade and economic restrictions on China and states are starting to follow the federal government’s lead. International relations is largely a job for Congress and the executive branch, but state governments are not shy about speaking out when a major international event occurs.  

And as the temperature on relations between the United States and China rises, states — within their limited capacities — have begun to act. For example, a growing legislative trend this year has been states limiting foreign ownership of agricultural land or critical infrastructure within its borders. Montana Senate President Pro Tempore Ken Bogner (R) specifically cited China when discussing a bill the legislature passed earlier this month to prohibit interests from China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia from renting, leasing, or owning critical infrastructure, including agricultural lands, in the state. “China especially has shown a concerning interest in acquiring lands and resources in our country that could help them with spying efforts, economic competition, and gaining the upper hand in any conflict with the United States,” Bogner said in a statement.

Another concern is the prevalence of Chinese-affiliated technologies in America. The federal government has taken action to restrict the use of Huawei — the Chinese-owned telecommunications technology giant — products in the U.S. And over half the states have banned the use of the social media app TikTok on government employee devices over security concerns that TikTok’s user data could find its way to the Chinese government. Last week, lawmakers in Montana took these concerns a step further. 

On Friday, lawmakers in Montana sent legislation to the governor that would prohibit the use of the TikTok app altogether in the state. This prohibition would apply not only to government employees, but for every resident in Montana. The preamble of the bill states one of the legislature’s intentions in enacting the legislation as “TikTok's stealing of information and data from users and its ability to share that data with the Chinese Communist Party unacceptably infringes on Montana's right to privacy.”

Such a ban by a state brings up a ton of constitutional and practical questions, which I’ll leave to experts on those issues. My focus on this bill is as an example of states taking on a greater role in international relations. The bill passed the Montana House last week on a 54 to 43 vote, and it remains unclear whether Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) will sign the bill into law — he has until next week to decide — inviting national attention and an inevitable deluge of lawsuits. 

States have never been shy about scoring rhetorical points on the international stage, but now they’re taking stronger action in the name of protecting the privacy and security of their residents. 

Sign up for Morning MultiState

For more timely insights like this, be sure to sign up for our Morning MultiState weekly morning tipsheet. We created Morning MultiState with state government affairs professionals in mind — sign up to receive the latest from our experts in your inbox every Tuesday morning. Click here to read past issues and sign up.