Bill Would Require CFIUS to Review Chinese Greenfield Investments
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., reintroduced a bill that would require a review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. for all “greenfield” investments made by certain Chinese businesses on U.S. soil. The bill, introduced last week, would specifically require CFIUS to look at any foreign investment that “involves the acquisition of real estate in the U.S. and the establishment of a U.S. business on such real estate” and that “results in China’s direct or indirect control of that U.S. business.” These investments would trigger a mandatory declaration with CFIUS if China’s government has a “substantial interest” in the deal.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
In a statement, Kennedy said China’s state-owned companies use greenfield investments -- which involves the establishment of a new company in the U.S. without the acquisition of an existing company -- to “siphon intellectual property” and acquire U.S. technologies. “We can’t be blind to the ways Beijing is gaming our system to take American assets, real estate and innovation away from U.S. businesses,” Kennedy said. The senator introduced the bill last year, but it never received a vote.