US lawmakers reintroduce bill to bar some Chinese firms from capital markets
- Republican-proposed legislation would ban companies already cited by the Commerce and Defence departments from raising capital in the US
- The American Financial Markets Integrity and Security Act was initially proposed in October but never got a vote
US lawmakers reintroduced legislation on Wednesday that would ban some Chinese companies from accessing US capital markets.
Five Republican colleagues joined Senator Marco Rubio of Florida in proposing the American Financial Markets Integrity and Security Act, which Rubio first introduced in October. A version was also introduced in the House of Representatives by Representative Mike Gallagher, a Republican from Wisconsin.
The bill would ban companies that are listed on the Department of Commerce’s Entity List or a Department of Defence list of Communist Chinese military companies from raising capital in the US.
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“The Chinese Communist Party’s exploitation of US capital markets is a clear and ongoing risk to US economic and national security that must be addressed,” Rubio said.
The initial legislation was introduced last October but never got to a vote in the House or Senate. It was proposed after former president Donald Trump signed an executive order prohibiting US investment in blacklisted Chinese firms that the Defence Department said had ties to the Chinese military.
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In January, the Biden administration delayed the ban imposed by that executive action, extending the date of implementation to May 27 as the order is reviewed.
The Defence Department’s list includes 45 Chinese companies, including Huawei Technologies and Hikvision. More than 30 of them are tapping US markets for capital, Rubio said in his statement.
The legislation also proposes that the US commerce secretary and the director of national intelligence have the authority to add to the Defence’s Department’s list of companies.
