Trump & Lawmakers Discuss Bill to Increase Scrutiny of Foreign Investments in the U.S.

President Donald Trump met with lawmakers at the White House Thursday to discuss the implementation of a bill that’d increase scrutiny of foreign investments in U.S. companies that could undermine national security.

The bill ― known as the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (or FIRRMA) ― passed the House as a standalone bill with overwhelming support on a 400-2 vote and became law after its inclusion in the bipartisan John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for FY2019. The Trump administration is aiming to have the bill fully implemented within the next 18 months.

Here’s a look at some of FIRRMA’s key provisions:

• The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) can now evaluate foreign investments in entire industries or sectors instead of only examining proposed acquisitions or takeovers on a case-by-case basis.
• CFIUS can now examine foreign investments in minority positions in a venture, real estate transactions near military bases and other sensitive national security facilities.
• CFIUS’ definition of “critical technologies” would be expanded to include emerging technologies, while new national security factors would be considered in the review process.
• It creates a “safe list” of allied countries, which exempts investors and companies from “safe list” countries from CFIUS review.

Learn more about FIRRMA by reading our summary of the House-passed FIRRMA bill below.

— Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: iStock / vacclav)