Congress recently introduced two pieces of legislation that could significantly change foreign direct investment review in the United States. The Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2017 ("FIRRMA") seeks to modernize and strengthen the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States ("CFIUS") process to more effectively guard against the risk to U.S. national security posed by certain types of foreign investment. FIRRMA appears to have a good chance of becoming law, perhaps even by the end of this year. In addition, the United States Foreign Investment Review Act of 2017 ("USFIRA") would create a new process whereby the economic effects of certain proposed foreign investments in the United States would be reviewed by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Unlike the near certainty that FIRRMA will become law, USFIRA may be less likely to be enacted.
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