U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent. (Bloomberg)
[Compiled by Lu Yongshan/Comprehensive Report] "American Broadcasting Corporation" (ABC) reported that the U.S. Treasury Department announced a new draft called the "Comprehensive Foreign Investment National Security Act" (COINS Act) on the 22nd, which aims to restrict U.S. investment in China, Russia, North Korea and other "countries of concern" in high-tech fields such as supercomputing and artificial intelligence (AI). The draft will be finalized after the public comment period ends.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent said: "The proposed draft will strengthen the existing Foreign Investment Security Program (OISP) to prevent our adversaries from using U.S. investment to develop critical technologies that threaten U.S. national security."
The draft will also allow U.S. and foreign investors to better understand investment rules and help maintain an open investment environment. For years, the U.S. government has worked to prevent China and other adversaries from receiving investments that could help them build their military capabilities.
This plan began in 2023, when then-President Biden signed an executive order restricting U.S. investment in China in fields such as semiconductors, quantum computing, and AI. Since then, the U.S. Treasury Department has established the Foreign Investment Security Program. In December 2025, the U.S. Congress passed a law to solidify the program in legislative form and expand it to cover more technical fields and more countries, including Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Russia.
According to reports, the draft announced on the 22nd will expand the scope of investment restrictions to cover investment in hypersonic systems, supercomputing, biotechnology and AI.
The draft notes that some advanced or sensitive biotechnologies may involve significant risks of biological weapons proliferation, and the United States is also paying close attention to technologies that may be used in military, intelligence collection, and large-scale surveillance. The U.S. Treasury Department said the bill intends to ban some treatments involving modifying patient cells or genes, as well as investments related to immunotherapy.
Craig Singleton, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a Washington think tank, said: "This draft sends an important signal to the market: Washington is paying close attention to the flow of U.S. capital and what capabilities these capitals are helping to build. The review of foreign investment is based on the understanding that capital, like technology transfer, can accelerate the formation of military-related capabilities."
In July this year, the U.S. Treasury Department fined Amidi, the parent company of Silicon Valley Venture Capital Plug and Play, US$200,000 (NT$6.502 million) because a subsidiary of the company invested US$92,500 (NT$3.007 million) in Shanghai-based robotics and AI company Noematrix in April 2025, but the company failed to report it to the Treasury.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that it invites stakeholders to provide comments on various aspects of the "Notice of Proposed Rulemaking" (NPRM), including the scope of application of national security transactions, definitions of key terms, penalties for violations, and enforcement procedures. The Treasury Department will carefully consider these comments before issuing final implementation details.
The draft is considered the latest measure taken by the United States to prevent China from using technologies with both civilian and military applications to endanger U.S. national security. The draft will be finalized after the public comment period ends. After the bill is passed, the Trump administration is legally required to formulate relevant guidelines.
