H.R. 9789, Economic Espionage Enforcement Expansion. Quorum's AI analysis reads it as a trade-off: gains for some, costs for others.
H.R. 9789 · Mixed
What it does
This bill amends federal espionage law to treat any company or entity based in a 'foreign adversary country' (defined elsewhere in law as including China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea) as a 'foreign instrumentality' for purposes of prosecuting economic espionage. Currently, prosecutors must prove a company is controlled by a foreign government; this bill presumes that status based on domicile alone, making it easier to charge theft of trade secrets or proprietary information as espionage rather than ordinary theft.
The analysis names U.S. technology and intellectual-property-intensive sectors (software, semiconductors, pharmaceutica — and 2 more groups — among the beneficiaries.
The trade-off
Presumption of foreign government control based on domicile alone may criminalize ordinary commercial activity (licensing, joint ventures, supply contracts) with entities in covered nations, even if those entities are privately owned or operate independently.
Transparency scores 65%, with a medium warning level and no provisions unrelated to the bill's subject.
Who is behind it
Filed by John Moolenaar. Cosponsored by Lauren Boebert.