DOJ Proposes to Tighten Foreign Lobbying Disclosure Rules

Proposed revisions would narrow exemptions that allow foreign agents to avoid transparency.

A portion of the website for the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act in Washington in a file photo. Jon Elswick/AP Photo

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has proposed to revise the federal law regulating the disclosure of lobbying on behalf of foreign businesses and governments, seeking to narrow the circumstances under which one may be exempted from transparency requirements.

The proposal, published on Dec. 20, would revise the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), which generally mandates that anyone acting as a foreign agent in the United States register as such with the DOJ and regularly report their activities to the public. The DOJ said the revisions were based on public feedback from a questionnaire three years ago.

Tightening ‘Commercial Exemption’

A key part of the proposal concerns the so-called commercial exemption, one of the most commonly invoked exemptions under FARA. This exemption covers political activities conducted on behalf of foreign corporations—including those owned by foreign governments, so long as they center on business interests and do not “directly promote” the political or public interests of a foreign government or political party.