Moolenaar, Cornyn, Cotton Introduce Stop PRC Economic Espionage Act
Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) of the Select Committee on China and Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Tom Cotton (R-AR), the Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, have introduced the Stop PRC Economic Espionage Act of 2026. This bill amends current law to make it harder for Chinese entities to commit economic espionage, and easier for the U.S. justice system to prosecute them for it.
"The Stop PRC Economic Espionage Act will update our nation’s espionage laws and make it harder for spies and intelligence assets to escape justice based on the technicality of what counts as a ‘foreign instrumentality.' In China, everything is an instrument controlled by the state, there are no private companies. The CCP’s sweeping national security law empowers its strategy of military-civil fusion and the pursuit of its military ambitions across all industries,” said Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar.
“There are no ‘private’ companies in China because they are – by law and design – beholden to the Chinese Communist Party,” said Senator Cornyn. “This bill is a commonsense fix to reflect that reality, account for the PRC’s state-sponsored efforts to cheat and steal their way ahead in emerging tech, AI, and defense, and enable our government to prosecute without the burden of proving the obvious.”
“Communist China treats every business as an arm of the state. Anyone stealing trade secrets to benefit a Chinese business does so for the benefit of their government,” said Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Cotton. “Our bill accepts that reality in law and would remove the requirement to show that a Chinese company is controlled by the Communist Chinese government.”
Background:
The economic espionage statute currently holds that one needs to intend or know the offense will benefit a foreign government or agent, or a “foreign instrumentality.” Foreign instrumentality is defined in the statute as “any agency, bureau, ministry, component, institution, association, or any legal, commercial, or business organization, corporation, firm, or entity that is substantially owned, controlled, sponsored, commanded, managed, or dominated by a foreign government.” The national security laws of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) make plain that all businesses operate effectively as an arm of the Chinese state. U.S. law should reflect that reality.
The Stop PRC Economic Espionage Act of 2026 closes a dangerous loophole by including organizations "domiciled" in a “covered country” – China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea – as a "foreign instrumentality" for purposes of criminal prosecution.
Read the text of the bill here.