Law makes it easier to charge Chinese companies with stealing secrets.
S. 5024 — Stop PRC Economic Espionage Act of 2026 · Filed by John Cornyn (R-TX) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Jul 16, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
The bill changes the law about economic espionage. It says companies based in countries the U.S. calls adversaries count as foreign government tools. This is true even if a foreign government does not own them. The government can now charge these companies more easily. They are charged with stealing trade secrets and business information.
Who it affects
The bill affects companies based in countries the U.S. names as adversaries. It also affects American companies that own trade secrets. The government gains new power to prosecute foreign companies.
One thing to notice
The bill does not say which countries count as adversaries. It points to another law for that list. The bill charges companies based only on where they are located. It does not require proof that a foreign government owns or controls them.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.
- Jul 16, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Jul 16, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 1 reports from Jun 2026 to Jun 2026.
Those reports show $5,000 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 4 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.
More groups named this bill than 0% of bills with any report.
John Cornyn, who sponsored the bill, received $2,071,484 from PACs for the 2026 election.
- Automotive Recyclers Association — $5,000 in 1 report
Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.
Words to know
- economic espionage — Stealing business secrets or trade information to help a foreign country or company.
- trade secrets — Private business information that gives a company an advantage over others.
- adversaries — Countries the U.S. government considers opponents or rivals.
- lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
- PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.
- sponsored — To sponsor a bill is to introduce it in Congress and put your name on it.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (465 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.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-09-23.
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