The U.S. Department of the Treasury leads the implementation and operation of the new program established under the Executive Order of August 9, 2023, "Addressing United States Investments in Certain National Security Technologies and Products in Countries of Concern" (Order).
On August 9, 2023, President Biden issued the Order declaring a national emergency to address the threat to the United States posed by certain countries of concern, which seek to develop and exploit sensitive or advanced technologies or products critical for military, intelligence, surveillance, or cyber-enabled capabilities. The Order directs the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a program to prohibit or require notification of certain types of outbound investments by United States persons into certain entities located in or subject to the jurisdiction of a country of concern, and certain other entities owned by persons of a country of concern, involved in specific categories of advanced technologies and products. The Order identifies three categories of national security technologies and products for the program: semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies, and artificial intelligence. In an Annex to the Order, the President identified the People’s Republic of China, along with the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau, as a country of concern.
On June 21, 2024, the Department of the Treasury issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to offer full draft regulations and explanatory discussion regarding the intent of – and to solicit comment on – the proposed rule. The NPRM reflects Treasury’s consideration of the comments received on the ANPRM and provides the public an additional opportunity to submit comments on the new program. Written comments on the NPRM may be submitted by August 4, 2024 at https://www.regulations.gov. The NPRM will be followed by final implementing regulations at a later date.
The Order directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue regulations that detail the scope and requirements of the program.
As an initial step, concurrent with the issuance of the E.O., the Department of the Treasury issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) in the Federal Register to provide transparency and clarity about the intended scope of the program, and to solicit comments on the development and implementation of the program. The ANPRM does not itself implement the E.O. and is not draft regulatory text.
Interested persons had the opportunity to submit comments on the ANPRM and the deadline closed on September 28, 2023.
The Department of the Treasury can be reached using the contact information below.