Senators unveiled legislation this week that would give the administration new authority to block transactions with TikTok and other foreign technology products that threaten U.S. national security. The bill, which has bipartisan support and was endorsed by the White House, would require the Commerce Department to establish new procedures to prohibit or mitigate transactions involving information and communications technology products “in which any foreign adversary has any interest and poses undue or unacceptable risk to national security.”
Sens. Chris Coons, D-Del., and John Thune, R-S.D., recently introduced a bill called Undertaking Negotiations on Investment and Trade for Economic Dynamism (United) Act, which would use the last trade promotion authority's language to authorize a free-trade negotiation with the U.K.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., recently reintroduced several bills that could lead to sanctions against China and North Korea:
The House Foreign Affairs Committee voted 24-16 this week to advance a bill that would grant the Biden administration new authorities to ban U.S. transactions with TikTok. It also would require the president to impose certain sanctions on entities or people that transfer U.S. personal data to entities under the influence of the Chinese government. The bill, which was advanced along party lines, must still be passed by the full House and Senate before it’s sent for President Joe Biden’s signature.
The top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee applauded the Biden administration's revised conventional arms transfer policy, saying it will give “greater consideration for human rights abuses” when State Department officials adjudicate transfers and sales. Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York said the new policy, released last week (see 2302230049), “represents a meaningful step forward in ensuring the United States does not contribute to human rights abuses through its arms exports.”
The Republican leaders of the House and Senate foreign relations committees criticized the Biden administration's new Conventional Arms Transfer policies for failing to prioritize the economic competitiveness of U.S. defense companies. Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said the new policy “reflects this administration’s fundamental misunderstanding of the challenges we and our allies and partners are facing to obtain the weapons we need to keep our country safe and to deter aggression around the world.” They also said the new policy is missing “transparent criteria” for how the administration evaluates arms transfers.
A bipartisan group of House members introduced a bill this week that could strengthen the U.S. ability to respond to economic coercion by foreign countries. The bill, which was introduced in the Senate earlier this month (see 2302080068), would allow the president to lower duties on non-import-sensitive goods made by a country that lost exports due to coercive actions; increase duties on imports from the "foreign adversary" committing the coercion; and allow the U.S. to more easily facilitate trade, including exports, with the coerced parties.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. should “swiftly” conclude its review of TikTok (see 2212210007) and impose “strict structural restrictions” between the app and its Chinese parent company ByteDance, two senators said in a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen last week. Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said CFIUS should consider "separating" TikTok and ByteDance, adding that reports of the app’s collection of U.S. private data prove TikTok and ByteDance “cannot be trusted by CFIUS or its tens of millions of users in the United States.”
President Joe Biden should increase the State Department’s foreign military financing budget for FY 2024 to include up to $2 billion in grants for Taiwan, Republicans said in a letter to the White House last week. The letter -- signed by Sens. Jim Risch of Idaho and Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Reps. Michael McCaul of Texas and Mike Rogers of Michigan -- criticized what the lawmakers said have been the administration’s delay of arms sales notifications to Congress and refusal to provide information on Taiwan’s defense needs. The lawmakers said the FY 2023 defense spending bill authorized up to $2 billion in annual FMF grants to Taiwan but “without FMF grants, loans are not enough to address the scale of this challenge.”
House Foreign Affairs Committee Republicans are asking the Bureau of Industry and Security for information on its export enforcement and compliance efforts involving China, including steps to crack down on Chinese transfers of controlled U.S. technology to State Sponsors of Terrorism (SSTs). In a letter sent to BIS last week, Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, chair of the committee, said he is concerned China’s “economic and trade ties” with terrorism sponsors is “undermining U.S. national security and foreign policy interests.” He and Rep. Michael Lawler, R-N.Y., asked BIS to provide information on recent Chinese export violations, licensing procedures, end-use checks and more by March 2.