Hill sponsors bill protecting against adversarial foreign businesses

Bipartisan legislation recently proposed by U.S. Rep. French Hill (R-AR) would enhance American business and security interests by requiring foreign business entities to assign and register an agent with the U.S. Commerce Department as a prerequisite to doing business in the United States.

“Allowing foreign entities into our markets is valuable for global trade, but it is not without risk because rogue foreign actors are notorious for stealing trade secrets and intellectual property (IP) of U.S. firms and businesses based here in the United States,” Rep. Hill said last week. “This has been the case, especially for bad actors from China.”

Rep. Hill on Feb. 18 sponsored the Protecting American Business from Foreign Adversaries Act of 2022, H.R. 6775, with original cosponsor U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN).

“Our bill will protect American businesses from IP theft and commercial espionage by closing loopholes and holding rogue foreign business entities conducting business in the United States accountable,” said Rep. Hill.

For instance, if enacted, H.R. 6775 would require that a covered entity — meaning a corporation, partnership, association, organization, or other combination of persons established for the purpose of commercial activities, including a trust or a fund established for the purpose of commercial activities —  ensure that not less than one registered agent on whom process may be served is available at the business address of the registered agent each day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the time zone of the business address, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and federal holidays, according to the text of the bill.

H.R. 6775 has been referred to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee for consideration.