Sec. 301. Prohibition and notification on investments relating to covered national security transactions
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The Defense Production Act of 1950 ( 50 U.S.C. 4501 et seq. ) is amended by adding at the end the following: The Secretary may prohibit, in accordance with regulations issued under subsection (e), a United States person, including its controlled foreign entities, from knowingly engaging in a covered national security transaction in any prohibited technology. Any action that evades or avoids, has the purpose of evading or avoiding, causes a violation of, or attempts to violate the prohibition set forth in subsection
(a)is prohibited. Subject to subsection (d), the Secretary is authorized to exempt from the prohibition set forth in subsection
(a)any activity determined by the President, in consultation with the Secretary, or delegated to the Secretary, in coordination with the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of State, and, as appropriate, the heads of other relevant Federal departments and agencies, to be in the national interest of the United States. Regulations issued under subsection
(e)shall not apply to any authorized intelligence activities of the United States. The Secretary shall— notify the appropriate congressional committees not later than five business days after issuing an exemption under subsection (c); and include in such notification an identification of the national interest justifying the use of the exemption, subject to appropriate confidentiality and classification requirements. The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of State and, as appropriate, the heads of other relevant Federal departments and agencies, may issue or update existing regulations to carry out this section subject to public notice and comment in accordance with subchapter II of chapter 5 and chapter 7 of title 5, United States Code, and not subject to the requirements of section 709. The regulations issued pursuant to this paragraph shall, as necessary, amend, terminate, supersede, revoke, or streamline existing requirements in part 850 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations (the Outbound Investment Rule) and shall provide a reasonable timeframe for compliance. The regulations issued under paragraph
(1)shall include a process under which a person can request to receive non-binding feedback on a confidential basis, or as anonymized guidance to the public, as to whether a transaction would constitute a covered national security transaction in a prohibited technology. In establishing the process required by subparagraph (A), the Secretary may prescribe limitations on requests for feedback identified as frivolous for purposes of this subsection. The regulations issued under paragraph
(1)shall account for whether a United States person has self-identified and self-disclosed a violation of the prohibition set forth in subsection
(a)in determining the legal consequences of that violation. The regulations issued under paragraph
(1)shall dictate the form and content of a letter of self-disclosure, which shall include relevant facts about the violation, why the United States person believes its activity to have violated the prohibition set forth in subsection (a), and a proposal for mitigation of the harm of such action. In issuing regulations under paragraph (1), the Secretary should balance the priority of protecting the national security interest of the United States while, to the extent practicable— minimizing the cost and complexity of compliance for affected parties, including the duplication of reporting requirements under current regulations; adopting the least burdensome alternative that achieves regulatory objectives; and prioritizing transparency and stakeholder involvement in the process of issuing the rules. In accordance with section 556(d) of title 5, United States Code, in an enforcement action for a violation of the prohibition set forth in subsection (a), the burden of proof shall be upon the Secretary. Not later than 450 days after the date of the enactment of this title, the Secretary shall issue regulations prescribed in accordance with subsection (b), to require a United States person that itself or whose controlled foreign entity knowingly engages in a covered national security transaction in a prohibited technology (unless the Secretary has exercised the authority provided by section 801(a) to prohibit knowingly engaging in such covered national security transaction) or a notifiable technology to submit to the Secretary a written notification of the transaction not later than 30 days after the completion date of the transaction. Not later than 450 days after the date of the enactment of this title, the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of State, and, as appropriate, the heads of other relevant Federal departments and agencies, shall issue regulations to carry out this section subject to public notice and comment in accordance with subchapter II of chapter 5 and chapter 7 of title 5, United States Code, and not subject to the requirements of section 709. The regulations issued pursuant to this paragraph shall as necessary, amend, terminate, supersede, revoke, or streamline existing requirements in part 850 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations (the Outbound Investment Rule) and shall provide a reasonable timeframe for compliance. In issuing regulations under paragraph (1), the Secretary should balance the priority of protecting the national security interest of the United States while, to the extent practicable— minimizing the cost and complexity of compliance for affected parties, including the duplication of reporting requirements under current regulation; adopting the least burdensome alternative that achieves regulatory objectives; and prioritizing transparency and stakeholder involvement in the process of issuing the rules. In accordance with section 556(d) of title 5, United States Code, in an enforcement action for a violation of the prohibition set forth in subsection (a), the burden of proof shall be upon the Secretary. The Secretary shall, upon receipt of a notification under subsection (a), promptly inspect the notification for completeness. If a notification submitted under subsection
(a)is incomplete, the Secretary shall promptly inform the United States person that submits the notification that the notification is not complete and provide an explanation of relevant material respects in which the notification is not complete. The Secretary shall establish a process to identify covered national security transactions in a prohibited technology or a notifiable technology for which— a notification is not submitted to the Secretary under subsection (a); and information is reasonably available. If the Secretary prohibits a covered national security transaction in a prohibited technology under section 801, the requirements of this section shall not apply with respect to the covered national security transaction. Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this title, and not less frequently than annually thereafter, the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce and, as appropriate, the heads of other relevant Federal departments and agencies, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report, subject to appropriate confidentiality and classification requirements, that— lists all enforcement actions taken subject to the existing regulations and regulations issued under section 801(e) and 802(b) during the year preceding submission of the report, which includes, with respect to each such action, a description of— the prohibited technology or notifiable technology; the covered national security transaction; the covered foreign person; and the relevant United States person; provides an assessment of the definition of the term prohibited technology under existing regulations or regulations issued under section 801(e) or 802(b) by— identifying additional technologies that the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce and, as applicable, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Energy, the Director of National Intelligence, and the heads of any other relevant Federal agencies, determined under existing regulations or regulations issued pursuant to 801(e) may pose an acute threat to the national security of the United States if developed or acquired by a country of concern; explaining why each technology identified in subparagraph
(A)may pose an acute threat to the national security of the United States if developed or acquired by a country of concern; and describing any removal of technologies from the category of prohibited technology under existing regulations or regulations issued under section 801(e) during the reporting period to the extent that the technologies no longer pose an acute threat to the national security of the United States if developed or acquired by a country of concern; lists all notifications submitted under existing regulations or regulations issued section 802 during the year preceding submission of the report and includes, with respect to each such notification— basic information on each party to the covered national security transaction with respect to which the notification was submitted; and the nature of the covered national security transaction that was the subject of the notification, including the elements of the covered national security transaction that necessitated a notification; includes a summary of those notifications, disaggregated by prohibited technology, by notifiable technology, by covered national security transaction, and by country of concern; provides additional context and information regarding trends in the prohibited technology, notifiable technology, the types of covered national security transaction, and the countries involved in those notifications; and assesses the overall impact of those notifications, including recommendations for— expanding existing Federal programs to support the production or supply of prohibited technologies or notifiable technologies in the United States, including the potential of existing authorities to address any related national security concerns; investments needed to enhance prohibited technologies or notifiable technologies and reduce United States dependence on countries of concern regarding those technologies; and the continuation, expansion, or modification of the implementation and administration of this title. In preparing the report pursuant to subsection (a), the Secretary— shall consider information provided jointly by the chairperson and ranking member of any of the appropriate congressional committees; may consider credible information obtained by other countries and nongovernmental organizations that monitor the military, surveillance, intelligence, or technology capabilities of a country of concern; and may consider any other information that the Secretary deems relevant. Each report required by this section shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex. Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this title, and annually thereafter for five years, the Secretary and the Secretary of Commerce, or their designee, shall each provide to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committees on Foreign Affairs and Financial Services of the House of Representatives testimony with respect to the national security threats relating to investments by United States persons in countries of concern and broader international capital flows. After receiving a request that meets the requirements of paragraph
(2)with respect to whether a technology should be included in the amendments as described in subsection (a)(2), the Secretary shall, in preparing the report pursuant to subsection (a)— determine if that technology may pose an acute threat to the national security of the United States if developed or acquired by a country of concern; and include in the report pursuant to subsection
(a)an explanation with respect to that determination that includes— a statement of whether or not the technology, as determined by the Secretary, may pose an acute threat to the national security of the United States if developed or acquired by a country of concern; and if the Secretary determines that— the technology may pose an acute threat to the national security of the United States if developed or acquired by a country of concern, an explanation for such determination and a recommendation whether that technology should be named a prohibited technology or a notifiable technology; and the technology would not pose an acute threat to the national security of the United States if developed or acquired by a country of concern, an explanation for such determination. A request under paragraph
(1)with respect to whether a technology may pose an acute threat to the national security of the United States if developed or acquired by a country of concern shall be submitted to the Secretary in writing jointly by the chairperson and ranking member of 1 or more of the appropriate congressional committees. The Secretary, in coordination with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Commerce, and the heads of other relevant Federal agencies, should— conduct bilateral and multilateral engagement with the governments of countries that are allies and partners of the United States to promote and increase coordination of protocols and procedures to facilitate the effective implementation of and appropriate compliance with the prohibitions and notification requirement pursuant to this title; upon adoption of protocols and procedures described in paragraph (1), work with those governments to establish mechanisms for sharing information, including trends, with respect to such activities; and work with and encourage the governments of countries that are allies and partners of the United States to develop similar mechanisms of their own, for the exclusive purpose of preventing the development of prohibited technologies by a country of concern. Not later than 180 days after the date of the regulations implementing enactment of this title, the Secretary, in coordination with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Commerce, and the heads of other relevant Federal agencies, should— develop a strategy to work with the governments of countries that are allies and partners of the United States to develop mechanisms that are comparable to the prohibitions and notification requirements pursuant to this title, for the exclusive purpose of preventing the development of prohibited technologies by a country of concern; and assess opportunities to provide technical assistance to those countries with respect to the development of those mechanisms. Not later than one year after the date of the regulations implementing enactment of this title, and annually thereafter for four years, the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report, subject to the appropriate confidentiality and classification requirements, that includes— a discussion of any strategy developed pursuant to subsection (b)(1), including key tools and objectives for the development of comparable mechanisms by the governments of allies and partners of the United States; a list of partner and allied countries to target for cooperation in developing their own prohibitions; the status of the strategy’s implementation and outcomes; and a description of impediments to the establishment of comparable mechanisms by governments of allies and partners of the United States. In this section, the term appropriate congressional committees means— the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate; and the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives. The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, may establish a publicly accessible, non-exhaustive database that identifies covered foreign persons that are either engaged in a prohibited technology or a notifiable technology pursuant to this title. The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, is authorized to establish a mechanism for a covered foreign person to petition for their removal from or inclusion in the publicly accessible, non-exhaustive database described in (a). The Secretary shall establish a mechanism for the public, including Congress, stakeholders, investors, and nongovernmental organizations, to submit evidence on a confidential basis regarding whether a foreign person is a covered foreign person in a prohibited technology or notifiable technology and should be included in the database described in subsection (a), if any. The database described in subsection (a), if any, shall not be considered to be an exhaustive or comprehensive list of covered foreign persons for the purposes of this title. Nothing in this title may be construed to negate the authority of the President under any authority, process, regulation, investigation, enforcement measure, or review provided by or established under any other provision of Federal law, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act ( 50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq. ), or any other authority of the President or the Congress under the Constitution of the United States. The regulations issued under section 801 or 802 shall provide for the imposition of civil penalties described in subsection (b). It shall be unlawful for a person to violate, attempt to violate, conspire to violate, or cause a violation of any order, regulation, notification requirement, or prohibition issued under this title. The Secretary may impose civil penalties on any person who commits an unlawful act described in paragraph
(1)in amounts equivalent to amounts provided for under section 206(b) of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act ( 50 U.S.C. 1705(b) ) for violations under that Act. The Secretary may compel the divestment of a covered national security transaction in a prohibited technology determined to be in violation of section 801(a) or regulations issued thereunder. The President may direct the Attorney General of the United States to seek appropriate relief, including divestment relief for violations of the prohibition set forth in subsection 801(a), in the district courts of the United States, in order to implement and enforce this title. Except as provided in subsection (b), any information or documentary material filed with the Secretary or the Secretary’s designee pursuant to this title shall be exempt from disclosure under section 552(b)(3) of title 5, United States Code, and no such information or documentary material may be made public. Subsection
(a)shall not prohibit the disclosure of the following, subject to appropriate confidentiality and classification requirements: Information relevant to any administrative or judicial action or proceeding. Information to Congress or any duly authorized committee or subcommittee of Congress. Information important to the national security analysis or actions of the Secretary to any domestic governmental entity, or to any foreign governmental entity of a United States ally or partner, under the exclusive direction and authorization of the Secretary, only to the extent necessary for national security purposes, and subject to appropriate confidentiality and classification requirements. Identity of a covered foreign person in the public database described in section 805. Information that the parties have consented to be disclosed to third parties. Information gathered by the Secretary or the Secretary’s designee where the disclosure is determined to be in the national security interest, which may include publication of anonymized data. In this title: Except as provided in section 804(d), the term appropriate congressional committees means— the Committee on Financial Services, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives; and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate. The term country of concern means— the People’s Republic of China, including the Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Regions; the Republic of Cuba; the Islamic Republic of Iran; the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; the Russian Federation; and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela under the regime of Nicolas Maduro Moros. Subject to regulations prescribed in accordance with this title, the term covered foreign person means a foreign person that— is incorporated in, has a principal place of business in, or is organized under the laws of a country of concern; is a member of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party or is a member of the political leadership of a country of concern; is subject to the direction or control of a country of concern, as defined by regulation, an entity described in subparagraph
(A)or (B), or the state or the government of a country of concern (including any political subdivision, agency, or instrumentality thereof); or is owned in the aggregate, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by a country of concern, an entity described in subparagraph
(A)or (B), or the state or the government of a country of concern (including any political subdivision, agency, or instrumentality thereof). Subject to such regulations as may be issued in accordance with this title, the term covered national security transaction means a United States person’s direct or indirect— acquisition of an equity interest or contingent equity interest in a covered foreign person that the United States person knows at the time of the acquisition is a covered foreign person; provision of a loan or similar debt financing arrangement to a covered foreign person that the United States person knows at the time of the provision is a covered foreign person, where such debt financing affords or will afford the United States person an interest in profits of the covered foreign person, the right to appoint members of the board of directors (or equivalent) of the covered foreign person, or other comparable financial or governance rights characteristic of an equity investment but not typical of a loan; entrance by such United States person into a joint venture, wherever located, that is formed with a person of a country of concern, and that the subject United States person knows at the time of entrance into the joint venture that the joint venture will engage, or plans to engage, in a prohibited technology or notifiable technology; conversion of a contingent equity interest (or interest equivalent to a contingent equity interest) or conversion of debt to an equity interest in a covered foreign person; acquisition, leasing, or other development of operations, land, property, or other assets in a country of concern that the United States person knows at the time of such acquisition, leasing, or other development will result in, or that the United States person plans to result in— the establishment of a covered foreign person; or the engagement of a person of a country of concern in a prohibited technology or notifiable technology; knowingly directing prohibited transactions or notifiable transactions by foreign persons that the United States person has knowledge at the time of the transaction would constitute an activity described in clause (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), or (v), if engaged in by a United States person; acquisition of a limited partner or equivalent interest in a venture capital fund, private equity fund, fund of funds, or other pooled investment fund (in each case where the fund is not a United States person) that the United States person has knowledge at the time of the acquisition likely will invest in a person of a country of concern that is in one of the notifiable technology or prohibited technology sectors, and such fund undertakes a transaction that would be a covered national security transaction if undertaken by a United States person; or any other transaction identified by the Secretary, in consultation with the appropriate congressional committees and subject to public notice and comment in accordance with subchapter II of chapter 5 and chapter 7 of title 5, United States Code, and not subject to the requirements of section 709, that is contributing to the military, intelligence, surveillance, or cyber-enabled capabilities of a country of concern. Subject to regulations prescribed in accordance with this title, the term covered national security transaction does not include— any transaction the value of which the Secretary determines is de minimis; any category of transactions that the Secretary determines is in the national interest of the United States; an investment— in a security (as defined in section 3(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ( 15 U.S.C. 78c(a) )) that is traded on an exchange or the over-the-counter market in any jurisdiction; in a security issued by an investment company (as defined in section 3 of the Investment Company Act of 1940 ( 15 U.S.C. 80a–3 )) that is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or, if the Secretary chooses to include it as an exception from a covered national security transaction, in a security issued by a non-United States investment company that is registered with a foreign regulator with comparable oversight standards and regulatory jurisdiction to the Securities and Exchange Commission as determined by the Secretary of Treasury; made as a limited partner or equivalent in a venture capital fund, private equity fund, fund of funds, or other pooled investment fund (other than as described in subclause (II)) where— the limited partner or equivalent’s committed capital is not more than a de minimis amount, as determined by the Secretary, aggregated across any investment and co-investment vehicles of the fund; or the limited partner or equivalent has secured a binding contractual assurance that its capital in the fund will not be used to engage in a transaction that would be a covered national security transaction if engaged in by a United States person; or in a derivative of a security described under subclause (I), (II), or (III); any ancillary transaction undertaken by a financial institution (as defined in section 5312 of title 31, United States Code); the acquisition by a United States person of the equity or other interest owned or held by a covered foreign person in an entity or assets located outside of a country of concern in which the United States person is acquiring the totality of the interest in the entity held by the covered foreign person; an intracompany transfer of funds, as defined in regulations prescribed in accordance with this title, from a United States parent company to a subsidiary located in a country of concern or a transaction that, but for this clause, would be a covered national security transaction between a United States person and its controlled foreign person that supports operations that are not covered national security transactions or that maintains covered national security transactions that the controlled foreign person was engaged in prior to the effective date of the regulations implementing this title; a transaction secondary to a covered national security transaction, including— contractual arrangements (not including contractual arrangements for technology transfer or technical knowledge transfer) or the procurement of material inputs for any covered national security transaction (such as raw materials); bank lending; the processing, clearing, or sending of payments by a bank; underwriting services including, but not limited to, the temporary acquisition of an equity interest for the sole purpose of facilitating underwriting services; debt rating services; prime brokerage; global custody; equity research or analysis; or other similar services; any ordinary or administrative business transaction as may be defined in such regulations; or any transaction completed before the date of the enactment of this title. In this paragraph, the term ancillary transaction means, subject to regulations prescribed by the Secretary— the processing, settling, clearing, or sending of payments and cash transactions; underwriting services, including the temporary acquisition of an equity interest for the sole purpose of facilitating underwriting services; credit rating services; and other services ordinarily incident to and part of the provision of financial services, such as opening deposit accounts, direct custody services, foreign exchange services, remittances services, and safe deposit services. The term foreign person has the meaning given that term in regulations prescribed in accordance with this title. The terms knowledge or know mean— actual knowledge that a fact or circumstance exists or is substantially certain to occur; an awareness of a high probability of a fact or circumstance’s existence or future occurrence; or reason to know of a fact or circumstance’s existence. Subject to the regulations prescribed in accordance with this title, the term notifiable technology means a technology within the following areas not already captured by the technical thresholds specified by any regulations issued in accordance with section 801: Semiconductor technology and microelectronics. Artificial intelligence systems. Quantum information technologies. High-performance computing and supercomputing. Hypersonic systems. The Secretary, in consultation with the appropriate congressional committees and subject to notice and comment in accordance with subchapter II of chapter 5 and chapter 7 of title 5, United States Code, and not subject to the requirements of section 709, may prescribe regulations in accordance with this title to— define the technical parameters of technologies described in subparagraph (A), as reasonably needed for national security purposes; or to add and define categories to the list in subparagraph
(A)that enable the military, intelligence, surveillance, or cyber-enabled capabilities of a country of concern. The term party , with respect to a covered national security transaction, has the meaning given that term in regulations prescribed in accordance with this title. The term person includes an individual, corporation, partnership, association, or any other organized group of persons, or legal successor or representative thereof, or any State or local government or agency thereof. Subject to the regulations prescribed in accordance with this title, the term prohibited technology means a technology within the following areas, as specified by the regulations: Advanced semiconductor technology and microelectronics. Artificial intelligence systems. Quantum information technologies. High-performance computing and supercomputing. Hypersonic systems. The Secretary, in consultation with the appropriate congressional committees and subject to notice and comment in accordance with subchapter II of chapter 5 and chapter 7 of title 5, United States Code, and not subject to the requirements of section 709, may prescribe regulations in accordance with this title to— define the technical parameters of technologies described in subparagraph (A), as reasonably needed for national security purposes; or to add and define categories to the list in subparagraph
(A)that enable the military, intelligence, surveillance, or cyber-enabled capabilities of a country of concern. Except as otherwise provided, the term Secretary means the Secretary of the Treasury. The term United States person means— any United States citizen or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence to the United States; an entity organized under the laws of the United States or of any jurisdiction within the United States (including any foreign branch of such an entity); or any person in the United States. .
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- 15 USC 80a–3
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Sec. 301
Prohibition and notification on investments relating to covered national security transactions
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