Economic Espionage Prevention Act
Economic Espionage Prevention Act
Plain Language Summary
# Economic Espionage Prevention Act (HR 1486) Summary **What It Does:** This bill would give the President power to impose sanctions—including visa bans and property freezes—against foreign individuals and companies caught stealing U.S. trade secrets, providing support to hostile countries' military or intelligence agencies, or violating U.S. export controls. The bill specifically identifies China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela's Maduro government as potential targets. It also narrows certain exemptions in existing presidential emergency powers, making it easier for the President to enforce economic restrictions during national emergencies. **Who It Affects:** The bill primarily targets foreign entities engaged in espionage or illegal trade activities, but it could indirectly affect U.S.
companies doing business with sanctioned foreign entities. American intellectual property owners (businesses, inventors, and researchers) would potentially benefit from stronger legal tools against theft of their secrets. The bill also expands presidential authority, giving the executive branch more tools to respond to economic and security threats without congressional approval in emergency situations. **Current Status:** The bill has passed the House of Representatives. It would need Senate approval and presidential signature to become law.
CRS Official Summary
Economic Espionage Prevention ActThis bill authorizes the President to impose visa- and property-blocking sanctions on foreign adversary entities that knowingly engage in (1) economic and industrial espionage with respect to trade secrets and proprietary information owned by U.S. persons, (2) the provision of material support or services to a foreign adversaries' national security entities, or (3) the violation of U.S. export control laws. The bill cites regulations that define China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and the Maduro regime of Venezuela as foreign adversaries. The bill also limits certain exemptions from the President's authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). IEEPA provides the President broad authority to regulate a variety of economic transactions following a declaration of national emergency, but exempts from this authority activities such as (1) the import or export of information or informational materials; (2) transactions ordinarily incident to international travel, such as the importation of personal baggage; and (3) personal communications, such as postal or telephonic communications, that do not transfer anything of value. Under the bill, the first two of these exemptions are not applicable if the President determines such imports and exports would seriously impair the ability to deal with a declared national emergency. Additionally, the bill specifies that the first and third exemptions listed above do not apply to bulk sensitive personal data or source code used in a connected software application.
Latest Action
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.