WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — While Chinese companies and wealthy people have increasingly invested in America's latest technologies, including artificial intelligence, US lawmakers have proposed a tougher review of foreign acquisitions, mergers and other investments.
The new legislation, which was introduced by Senator John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, and Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California is aimed at strengthening the powers of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States that analyzes foreign investments to see if they pose a risk to national security.
The legislation has strong bipartisan support in both the Senate and the House and would allow the committee to scrutinize foreign transactions such as real estate investments near military bases and other sensitive national security facilities and partial acquisitions of high tech US companies.
According to the press release by Senator Dianne Feinstein’s office, China was called out as "degrading" the US military technological lead by acquiring or investing in high tech companies.
Trump's Visit to China
The new legislation was proposed during Donald Trump's visit to China, with bilateral trade being high on the agenda. The meeting between the US president and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping has resulted in a number of trade agreements worth $253.4 billion, with the US and Chinese companies signing a number of deals worth $9 billion.
During a joint press conference, Trump has stated that "the United States really has to change its policies because they’ve gotten so far behind on trade with China and frankly with other countries."
