Investments and Security: Balancing International Commerce and National Security with Expanded Authority for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States

Authors

Christopher Jusuf, Catholic University of America (Student)Follow

Abstract

What happens when the interests of international trade conflict with those of national security? This article analyzes this question within the context of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), an obscure but increasingly powerful executive panel that exercises the president's broad authority to unilaterally interfere with and stop international mergers and acquisitions. With the passage of the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRRMA), CFIUS is more powerful now than it has ever been, and should be a key consideration for any company seeking to do business with foreign investors. This is especially true as America enters into a strategic, economic, and military competition with China. This article will analyze the legal, economic, and liberty implications surrounding FIRRMA's provisions and propose certain policy changes to preserve CFIUS's national security mission while protecting America's long-standing openness to international trade and commerce.

Recommended Citation

Christopher Jusuf, Investments and Security: Balancing International Commerce and National Security with Expanded Authority for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, 29 Cath. U. J. L. & Tech 145 (2020).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.edu/jlt/vol29/iss1/5