A bipartisan coalition of senators has introduced a bill to prohibit investments in certain Chinese companies.
The Foreign Investment Guardrails to Help Thwart China Act, or FIGHT China Act, would permit the Treasury Department to block U.S. investments in certain technologies in China, including artificial intelligence models, quantum computers, materials used in hypersonic systems and other military technologies.
The bill, introduced March 13 by lead sponsors Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., is in conjunction with an executive order President Donald Trump signed last month covering the same ground.
The FIGHT CHINA Act would apply restrictions to several investment types, such as acquisitions, including of equity interest, property or other assets; loans and debt financing; joint ventures; and equity interest or debt conversions, according to a news release.
There would be certain exemptions, including investments in securities, derivatives of securities, or made as a limited partner in a venture capital fund, private equity fund, fund of funds, or other pooled investment fund, the bill noted.
Also of note, the bill would require U.S. investors to notify the Treasury Department within 14 days of making a covered investment in China for the development or production of any “non-prohibited integrated circuit” and any “non-prohibited AI system which is used for military, surveillance, cybersecurity, penetration, forensics, or robotic system use or which meets a certain computing standard,” according to the news release.
“By prohibiting and requiring notification of U.S. investments in certain technologies in China, this bill would help ensure American ingenuity, innovation and investment do not end up in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party to be weaponized against us,” Cornyn said in a statement.
Cornyn introduced similar legislation during the previous congressional session. That bill passed in the Senate in July 2023 but did not advance further.
“When it comes to cutting-edge technologies — such as AI and semiconductors — the United States must remain ahead of China,” Cortez Masto said in a statement. “I’m proud to stand with my colleagues across the aisle to introduce this bill that is critical for our national security. We can and must make sure no American investments are giving the Chinese Communist Party a leg up in developing these vitally important technologies.”
Other bill sponsors include Sens. Jim Banks, R-Ind., Michael Bennet, D-Colo., Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., Andy Kim, D-N.J., Dave McCormick, R-Pa., Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, as well as the leaders of the Senate Banking Committee, Chair Tim Scott, R-S.C., and ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
Following a separate executive order that President Joe Biden in August 2023, the Treasury Department finalized rules in October limiting U.S. investments in Chinese companies involved in the semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies and artificial intelligence sectors.
