IC Oversight & Policy — 2026-07-21

SSCI and House China Committee Leaders Introduce Stop PRC Economic Espionage Act Closing Prosecution Loophole

BLUFBipartisan committee leadership gives the bill unusual credibility, but enactment by end of 2026 is very likely foreclosed absent attachment to a must-pass vehicle like the NDAA.

Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton, and Senator John Cornyn introduced the Stop PRC Economic Espionage Act of 2026, filed as S.5024 and read twice and referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee . The bill would amend federal economic espionage law to classify organizations domiciled in China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea as "foreign instrumentalities," removing prosecutors' current burden to prove a company is substantially owned or controlled by a foreign government . Under existing law, prosecutors must show an offense was intended to benefit a foreign government, agent, or foreign instrumentality, defined as an entity substantially owned, controlled, sponsored, commanded, managed, or dominated by a foreign government . Cornyn, Cotton, and Moolenaar each stated Chinese law treats all businesses as arms of the Chinese Communist Party, and the bill's text is available through the House Select Committee on China . The standard requiring proof of government ownership or control would continue to apply to companies from all other countries .

Analysis
The bill is very likely to remain unenacted by the end of 2026, since standalone economic-espionage amendments of this kind typically require attachment to a must-pass vehicle such as the NDAA rather than advancing on standalone floor time. Low confidence reflects the absence of any scheduled markup, floor commitment, or administration endorsement in the three days since introduction, leaving the reference class of single-digit annual enactment rates as the primary analytical anchor. Bipartisan committee leadership backing raises the odds of eventual vehicle attachment, but no concrete step beyond introduction has materialized. If enacted, prosecutors would no longer need to prove Chinese Communist Party control case by case, materially lowering the evidentiary bar in trade-secret prosecutions involving Chinese-domiciled firms.

4 sources

Moolenaar Cornyn Cotton Introduce Stop PRC Economic Espionage Act - House Select Committee on China
US bill targets Chinese firms in espionage cases - IANS
共和党参众议员推出《制止中华人民共和国经济间谍活动法案》 - VOA Chinese
Moolenaar Cornyn Cotton Introduce Stop PRC Economic Espionage Act - House Select Committee on China