Republican lawmakers on March 3 introduced a bill that would block “malign Chinese companies” from being listed on American exchanges and other U.S. capital markets.
Under the proposed legislation, Chinese companies and their subsidiaries and affiliates that are on the Commerce Department’s “entity list” or the Pentagon’s list of companies “owned or controlled by” the Chinese military would be barred from tapping into American capital markets, including listing in securities exchanges and being included in indexes.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the bill’s lead sponsor in the Senate, said the legislation sends a message to the Chinese Communist Party “that they will no longer be able to exploit our financial system.”
He urged the Biden administration to support the bill and “build upon—not undo—the critical work the previous administration took to address China’s exploitation of U.S. capital markets.”
More than 300 Chinese companies are on the trade blacklist known as the entity list, having been added by Washington over concerns relating to national security or human rights. For instance, some firms listed aid China’s military activities in the South China Sea, while others help the Chinese regime’s surveillance of Uyghurs in its repression campaign in the Xinjiang region. U.S. companies are banned from doing business with firms on the list without a license from the Commerce Department.
A companion bill was also introduced to the House by Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.).
