Law makes it easier to charge foreign companies with stealing trade secrets.
H.R. 9789 — Stop PRC Economic Espionage Act of 2026 · Filed by John Moolenaar (R-MI) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Jul 20, 2026 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
The bill changes a federal law about economic espionage. Today, the law requires proof of government control. This bill adds a new rule. If a company is based in an adversary nation, it can be charged without that proof.
Who it affects
U.S. citizens may benefit if foreign companies steal fewer trade secrets. The bill may also affect foreign companies doing business in the U.S. and their U.S. workers.
One thing to notice
The bill creates a rule: companies from adversary nations are treated as foreign tools. This rule cannot be challenged in court, even if the company is not controlled by a foreign government.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.
- Jul 20, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jul 20, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- economic espionage — Stealing trade secrets or private business information for a foreign country.
- adversary nation — A country the U.S. government has named as a foreign adversary.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (576 characters) on Aug 12, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,707 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-23.
“Law makes it easier to charge foreign companies with stealing trade secrets.” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr9789/simple Report an error