WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump signed a memorandum on Friday (Feb 21) that directs the Committee on Overseas Funding in the USA (CFIUS) to limit Chinese language investments in strategic areas, a White Home official mentioned.
The nationwide safety memorandum is geared toward selling overseas funding whereas defending US nationwide safety pursuits from threats posed by overseas adversaries like China, the official instructed Reuters.
The order says that China is “exploiting our capital and ingenuity to fund and modernise their navy, intelligence, and safety operations, posing direct threats to United States safety,” the official mentioned.
Beneath the directive, the USA will set up new guidelines “to curb the exploitation of its capital, know-how, and data by overseas adversaries similar to China to make sure that solely these investments that serve American pursuits are allowed,” the official mentioned.
The official additionally mentioned the Trump administration will contemplate new or expanded restrictions on US outbound funding to China in delicate applied sciences, together with semiconductors, synthetic intelligence, quantum, biotechnology, aerospace and extra.
The steps threaten to intensify financial tensions with China after the president increased US tariffs on Chinese imports as certainly one of his first strikes in workplace.
CFIUS, which scrutinises overseas funding in the USA for nationwide safety dangers, has already overseen a pointy lower in Chinese language funding in the USA.
In accordance with the Rhodium Group, annual Chinese language funding has dropped from US$46 billion in 2016 to lower than US$5 billion in 2022.
The order famous that overseas entities and people maintain roughly 17.4 million ha of US agricultural land, which is sort of 2 per cent of all land in the USA, the official mentioned.
China owns greater than 141,600 ha of farmland throughout 27 states, the official mentioned.
Farm teams and lawmakers have expressed considerations in recent times that land buys by traders and overseas nations are driving up farmland costs and threatening nationwide safety.
The White Home official additionally famous that Chinese language hackers have repeatedly focused US entities, together with lately breaching the Treasury Division’s CFIUS workplace, the entity answerable for reviewing overseas investments for nationwide safety dangers.
The outbound regime may develop on an government order, unveiled in 2023 by the Biden administration, to begin prohibiting some US investments in sure delicate applied sciences in China, and requiring authorities notification of different investments.
