The Treasury Department will create a new fast-track process for certain deals filed with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., the agency announced May 8, saying the process will help encourage more investments in American businesses from close U.S. allies.
Sens. Todd Young, R-Ind., and Mark Warner, D-Va., said the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. should review the potential purchase by a foreign entity of 23andMe, a bankrupt U.S. biotechnology firm that holds sensitive information on millions of people. In an April 28 letter to DOJ and the Federal Trade Commission, the senators commended DOJ for recently recommending such a CFIUS review. The senators are particularly concerned that China could buy 23andMe and use the company's data for “malign” purposes, such as transnational surveillance.
Companies subject to U.S. investment screening are hoping the Trump administration takes a more predictable approach to reviews by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., including by focusing on purely national security concerns, industry officials said this week.
The Treasury Department is exploring several ways to improve its screening of inbound and outbound investment, Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender said April 24.
Three senators introduced a bill April 9 that would authorize the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to review greenfield and brownfield investments in the U.S. by China and other “foreign countries of concern.”
Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., and two other senators introduced a bill April 10 that would bar companies owned or controlled by China or other “foreign adversaries” from owning or operating retail stores on U.S. military bases.
Laura Black, former director of policy and international relations for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., has joined White & Case as partner in the global trade and foreign direct investment reviews practice, the firm announced. Black joins from Akin Gump, where she worked as senior counsel since 2022. Black worked at CFIUS from 2018 to 2022.
President Donald Trump has ordered the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to carry out a 45-day review of Japan-based Nippon Steel Corp.’s proposal to purchase U.S. Steel, months after former President Joe Biden blocked the deal (see 2501060040).
The House Financial Services Committee unanimously approved several bills March 5 dealing with foreign investment and sanctions.
The U.S. needs stronger restrictions on the types of advanced technology research that can be shared with academic institutions and other entities from China, lawmakers and witnesses said during a congressional hearing last week, including by possibly extending export controls to cover fundamental research. Others said the U.S. should be careful about cutting off too much collaboration with China, which would disregard the strides universities have recently made to better protect sensitive research.