Washington, May 22 (IANS) Two senior Republican lawmakers have introduced legislation aimed at accelerating sanctions against Chinese entities linked to Beijing’s military-industrial complex, arguing that the United States can no longer delay action against what they described as threats tied to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Senator Rick Scott and Representative Elise Stefanik on Thursday unveiled the “CCP Sanctions Shot Clock Act”, which would require the US Treasury Department to move within one year against Chinese individuals or entities identified as security risks by the US government.
The legislation seeks to amend the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 and establish what they called a one-year “shot clock” for placing identified entities on the Treasury Department’s Non-SDN Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies List.
Under current law, the President is required to submit a report every two years identifying People’s Republic of China persons appearing on specified US government lists who may qualify for inclusion on the NS-CMIC list. However, the Treasury Department is not currently bound by a timeline to update the sanctions list.
The proposed legislation would change that.
“Not later than one year after the President submits a report under subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury shall” add qualifying foreign persons to the list and publish a revised version in the Federal Register, according to the bill text.
Scott said the United States should immediately act once entities are identified as national security threats.
“No one working on behalf of the CCP’s military interests should be doing business in this country, full stop. Communist China is our enemy and we need to wake up and start acting like it,” Scott said.
“Once someone is identified as a threat to our security and our way of life, we shouldn’t wait around to hit them with sanctions. That’s what this legislation fixes,” he added.
Stefanik said the bill was part of broader Republican efforts to reduce American economic exposure to Chinese companies linked to China’s military expansion.
“This common-sense legislation ensures the Treasury Department can no longer delay action against entities tied to Communist China’s malign influence and military buildup,” she said.
“Last year Congress asked the administration to report on Chinese companies that qualify for expanded sanctions. The CCP Sanctions Shot Clock Act will guarantee that these companies are sanctioned with the urgency America needs to respond,” Stefanik added.
The legislation would require reviews of persons and companies already appearing on several existing US government lists, including the Department of Commerce’s Military End-User List, the Entity List, the Federal Communications Commission’s Covered List and the State Department’s Uyghur Forced Labor Act Entity List.
–IANS
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