New rules aim to curb the exploitation of American capital, technology, and knowledge by foreign adversaries such as China.
WASHINGTON–President Donald Trump signed a memorandum on Friday addressing national security threats related to Chinese investments in the United States.
According to a fact sheet shared by a White House official, the memorandum aims to curb the exploitation of U.S. capital, technology, and know-how by China and other foreign adversaries.
The National Security Presidential Memorandum (NSPM) introduces several measures aimed at bolstering the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), an interagency committee that reviews the national security implications of foreign acquisitions.
The memorandum outlines that CFIUS will be used to limit Chinese investments in critical U.S. sectors such as technology, critical infrastructure, health care, agriculture, energy, and raw materials.
“The United States will establish new rules to curb the exploitation of its capital, technology, and knowledge by foreign adversaries such as China to ensure that only those investments that serve American interests are allowed,” according to the fact sheet.
The move will also protect U.S. farmland and real estate near sensitive facilities, enhancing CFIUS’s authority over “greenfield” investments. It also aims to limit access to U.S. talent and operations in sensitive technologies by China and other adversaries.
According to the fact sheet, foreign companies and individuals own roughly 43 million acres of U.S. agricultural land—nearly 2 percent of the country’s total land. China owns more than 350,000 acres of farmland across 27 states.
There will also be restrictions on U.S. outbound investment to China in critical technologies, such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, quantum biotechnology, and aerospace, according to the fact sheet.
The move aims to stop American investors from funding China’s Military-Civil Fusion (MCF) strategy.
Other measures include auditing foreign companies on U.S. stock exchanges, reviewing their ownership structures, and investigating any alleged fraud to protect American pension funds.
According to the fact sheet, while imposing more restrictions on Chinese investments, the U.S. government will create a “fast-track” process to encourage more investment from “specified allies and partners. “
Hence, the government will allocate more administrative resources toward facilitating investments from allies rather than using “overly bureaucratic, complex, and open-ended ‘mitigation’ agreements for U.S. investments from foreign adversaries.”
The move comes after Chinese hackers recently breached the Treasury Department’s CFIUS office.
