White House Looks to Use Emergency Law to Halt Chinese Investment
- 6 years ago
White House Looks to Use Emergency Law to Halt Chinese Investment
Matt Gold, a professor at Fordham University School of Law, said the statute has allowed the United States to impose economic sanctions on nations like Iran
and Sudan and tends “to involve restrictions on U. S. firms investing in those countries or doing business with firms of those countries.”
Using the law to restrict investment from China would allow the president to “block transactions
to move funds, dispose of assets or otherwise do business,” Mr. Gold said.
The United States has broad export controls on sensitive technologies, and it reviews international mergers through the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which can recommend
that the president block foreign investments that pose a threat to national security.
“This would expand the current concept of what counts as national security, linking of national security
and economic security,” said John P. Kabealo, a lawyer who specializes in foreign investment matters.
A 2017 report from the U. S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a group created by Congress to monitor relations between the countries, said Chinese investment in the United States had been strategically focused on information
and communications technology, agriculture and biotechnology.
But the International Emergency Economic Powers Act could expand
that power to any type of investment, whether or not it poses a security risk, and allow the administration to potentially block a high volume of Chinese deals, which Cfius does not have the resources to handle.
After years of tough restrictions on American companies trying to operate in China, including coercing the transfer of proprietary
technology, the White House is looking to subject China to similar investment hurdles in the United States.
Matt Gold, a professor at Fordham University School of Law, said the statute has allowed the United States to impose economic sanctions on nations like Iran
and Sudan and tends “to involve restrictions on U. S. firms investing in those countries or doing business with firms of those countries.”
Using the law to restrict investment from China would allow the president to “block transactions
to move funds, dispose of assets or otherwise do business,” Mr. Gold said.
The United States has broad export controls on sensitive technologies, and it reviews international mergers through the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which can recommend
that the president block foreign investments that pose a threat to national security.
“This would expand the current concept of what counts as national security, linking of national security
and economic security,” said John P. Kabealo, a lawyer who specializes in foreign investment matters.
A 2017 report from the U. S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a group created by Congress to monitor relations between the countries, said Chinese investment in the United States had been strategically focused on information
and communications technology, agriculture and biotechnology.
But the International Emergency Economic Powers Act could expand
that power to any type of investment, whether or not it poses a security risk, and allow the administration to potentially block a high volume of Chinese deals, which Cfius does not have the resources to handle.
After years of tough restrictions on American companies trying to operate in China, including coercing the transfer of proprietary
technology, the White House is looking to subject China to similar investment hurdles in the United States.