Lawmaker Eyes Outbound Investment Talks with Trump Team
Incoming House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill, R-Ark., said Jan. 3 that he plans to consult with the incoming Trump administration before possibly taking action on legislation to restrict U.S. outbound investment in China.
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With the new administration preparing to take office later this month, Hill told Export Compliance Daily that he wants to "see what their views on that legislation [are] and see if they make any recommendations" on it.
A long-negotiated compromise on outbound investment, the Comprehensive Outbound Investment National Security (Coins) Act, was included in the initial version of a temporary government spending measure, or continuing resolution (CR), that Congress considered in December, but it was removed from the slimmed-down version of the CR that became law (see 2412180034 and 2412230038).
Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., a senior member of the Financial Services Committee, and House Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar, R-Mich., introduced the Coins Act as a stand-alone bill Dec. 24, and they expect to re-introduce it in the new Congress this month.
With the Coins Act in the initial CR, “we got it to a place where we were really close, obviously, and that was an arduous task to get that level of consensus behind it,” Barr told Export Compliance Daily Jan. 3. “We started in the batter’s box last time. Now we’re starting on third base, so we think that we’re in a good position. It might require a few more tweaks, but we’re starting in a much better place in the new Congress. I think we’re going to have an administration that wants to do something on this, too.”
Barr said he intends to discuss his bill with Hill and incoming House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla.
The Coins Act would expand upon the Biden administration’s August 2023 executive order by covering more artificial intelligence models and by adding hypersonic and related aerospace technologies (see 2412180034). It would also authorize the president to impose sanctions on Chinese entities connected to China’s military and intelligence apparatus.