Sec. 146. Authorization to assist United States companies with global supply chain diversification and management
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The Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, is authorized to establish a program to facilitate contracting by the Department of State for the professional services of qualified experts, on a reimbursable fee-for-service basis, to assist interested United States persons, including business entities, with supply chain management issues related to the PRC, including— exiting from the market of the PRC or relocating certain production facilities to locations outside the PRC; diversifying sources of inputs and other efforts to diversify supply chains to locations outside of the PRC; navigating legal, regulatory, or other challenges in the course of activities described in paragraphs
(1)and (2); and identifying alternative markets for production or sourcing outside of the PRC, including through providing market intelligence, facilitating contact with reliable local partners as appropriate, and other services. An individual hired to perform services described in subsection
(a)shall— be under the authority of the United States chief of mission in the country in which the individual is hired, in accordance with existing United States laws; coordinate with officers of the Department of State and the Department of Commerce; and coordinate with United States missions and relevant local partners in other countries as needed to provide those services. In carrying out the program authorized under subsection (a), the Secretary shall prioritize the provision of services described in that subsection to assist micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises with supply chain management issues described in that subsection. There is authorized to be appropriated to the Department of State $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029 for the purposes of carrying out this section. None of the funds appropriated pursuant to the authorization of appropriations under subsection
(d)may be provided to an entity— under the foreign ownership, control, or influence of the Government of the PRC or the Chinese Communist Party; determined to have beneficial ownership from foreign individuals subject to the jurisdiction, direction, or influence of the PRC; or that, at the time any of such funds would be provided, has a contract in effect, or has had a contract in effect in the preceding year, with— the Government of the PRC; the Chinese Communist Party; the Chinese military; an entity majority-owned, majority-controlled, or majority-financed by the Government of the PRC, the Chinese Communist Party, or the Chinese military; or a parent, subsidiary, or affiliate of an entity specified in any of clauses
(i)through (iv). In this subsection, the term foreign ownership, control, or influence has the meaning given that term in the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (DOD 5220.22–M), or a successor document, part 117 of title 32, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation).