In a markup session today, the House Foreign Affairs Committee passed the Protecting American Innovation and Development (PAID) Act (H.R. 8924). The bill, spearheaded by Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) and Representative Young Kim (R-CA), aims to expose foreign adversaries stealing U.S. intellectual property (IP) and trade secrets of dual-use technologies critical to national security.
“It is the Chinese Communist Party’s playbook to steal our technology and leave our industry high and dry. We must push back against CCP IP theft and support the ingenuity of American tech companies. I’m encouraged that the PAID Act passed in the House Foreign Affairs Committee and eagerly await its passage in Congress," said Chairman Moolenaar.
“We must expose authoritarian regimes like the CCP who steals up to $600 billion worth of U.S. intellectual property and trade secrets each year. The PAID Act does exactly that, so we can hold bad actors accountable,” said Rep. Young Kim. “I thank my House Foreign Affairs Committee colleagues for supporting this commonsense bill to protect U.S. competitiveness and our national security.”
The PAID Act mandates that the Secretary of Commerce identify and report on foreign adversary entities, including those affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Russia, North Korea, and Iran, using American IP related to critical or emerging technology areas such as hypersonic systems, artificial intelligence, and space technology without a license.
The legislation would enhance public transparency regarding foreign adversary entities violating U.S. IP regulations by:
- Requiring the End-User Review Committee, which makes decisions related to export controls, to identify a foreign adversary entity using a U.S.-patented invention or covered trade secret acquired through improper means such as theft, bribery, or espionage.
- Mandating that the Secretary publish a notice on such foreign adversary entities identified by the End-User Review Committee in the Federal Register.
- Providing U.S. small and medium-sized businesses with a voice by allowing them to submit a petition requesting the End-User Review Committee investigate whether a foreign adversary entity is in violation.
- Requiring the Secretary to submit to Congress a report listing all foreign adversary entities in violation.
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