US bill to increase oversight on Chinese investment will be voted on in the Senate
Senator John Cornyn, who introduced the bill, has said that China is using investment to extend its ‘tentacles’ into the US, creating a danger to the country’s security
A bill to tighten oversight of foreign investment in the United States that was inspired by concern over China’s acquisition of critical technology is headed for a vote this month in the US Senate Banking Committee, the panel said on Friday.
The committee also released draft proposals that will be voted on to amend the bill, which was introduced last November by Senator John Cornyn.
Proposed changes to the measure appear aimed largely at blunting opposition from high tech companies and investment firms, which had worried that even innocuous transactions would be subject to extended reviews by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS.
CFIUS is an inter-agency panel led by the US Treasury Department that assesses potential foreign investment to ensure it does not harm national security.
The bill in the Senate, and a companion measure in the US House of Representatives, would broaden CFIUS’ reach in hopes of reining in China’s acquisition of US high tech knowledge even as China has sought to focus on production of higher-value goods, like robots, computers and telecommunications equipment.
The bipartisan legislation has the support of US President Donald Trump’s administration.