McHenry Statement on Treasury’s Outbound Investment Final Rule

Washington, October 28, 2024 -

Today, the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Patrick McHenry (NC-10), issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Department of the Treasury's final rule restricting outbound U.S. investment to China. This follows Treasury's notice of proposed rulemaking implementing the White House's outbound investment Executive Order.

"The most well-known proponent of restricting American investment in China is, of course, Xi Jinping," said Chairman McHenry. "In contrast to several legislative proposals floating around Washington, this final rule is a targeted effort to cut off funding for the CCP's military-surveillance complex. I appreciate Treasury's attempts to focus narrowly on military technologies. We must ensure that the technologies Treasury has singled out have an actual effect on our national security and reject any attempts to broaden them in the absence of real data. I am also pleased to see the rule reject new regulations on publicly traded securities. Such restrictions would reflect a complete misunderstanding of capital markets and distract us from legitimate national security risks."

"However, I remain skeptical of a sectoral approach to regulating outbound investment. U.S. outbound investment to acquire Chinese companies enjoys overwhelming bipartisan support, as proven most recently by congressional action to wrest control of TikTok away from ByteDance. To have a strong, immediate, and global impact on the CCP's ability to wage war, policymakers in Congress and the Administration must embrace our time-tested sanctions regime. I will continue to oppose efforts that unwittingly advance Chairman Xi's crackdown on Western influence in China, and I look forward to examining this rulemaking in more detail."

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