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The
measure seeks to strengthen the Committee on Foreign Investment
in the United States (CFIUS), a government agency that reviews
potential foreign investment to ensure it does not compromise
national security.
Among other changes, the new rules would allow CFIUS to expand
the definition of which deals may be reviewed and to review
purchases of vacant land if they were near a sensitive U.S.
facility, like a military base.
The CFIUS legislation is aimed at preventing China or other
unfriendly countries from acquiring U.S. technology or data
about Americans via investment in U.S. companies.
It is one of a series of measures being considered by the White
House and Congress to address what it sees as China's unfair
trade and market access practices. Others include potential
tariffs on goods ranging from aluminum to automobiles, and
efforts to prevent the growth in the United States of Chinese
telecommunications companies Huawei and ZTE.
The defense policy bill - the National Defense Authorization Act
- is a 'must-pass' act, one of the few measures that Congress
reliably votes into law.
The CFIUS measure was not put in the version of the bill that
was passed earlier on Thursday by an overwhelming margin in the
House of Representatives.
The two versions will be combined and voted on later in the
year. Provisions included in one version often survive that
process and become law.
(Reporting by Diane Bartz, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
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