Two bills officials say will counter the influence of China’s Communist party on the supply chain passed in the U.S. House of Representatives Monday.
The bills, the “Decoupling from Foreign Adversarial Battery Dependence Act,” H.B. 1166, and the “SHIELD Against the CCP Act,” H.R. 708, would prevent federal agencies from buying materials from Chinese companies controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as well as form a working group in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to examine threats from the CCP, officials said.
“The ever-growing malign influence of the Chinese Communist Party on U.S. soil must be treated like the urgent threat it is,” U.S. Rep. Mark Green, M.D. (R-TN), the chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security, said. “The United States must prioritize countering Beijing’s efforts to undermine our sovereignty and economy, as well as spread its malign influence in our communities.”
H.B. 1166, introduced by U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL), chair of the Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security, would prevent DHS from procuring batteries from six Chinese companies with ties to the CCP – Contemporary Amperex Technology Company, Ltd. (CATL); BYD Company, Ltd; Envision Energy, Ltd; EVE Energy Company, Ltd; Hithium Energy Storage Technology company, Ltd; and Gotion High-Tech Company, Ltd. The legislation is similar to legislation signed into law in 2023 preventing the U.S. Department of Defense from procuring batteries from the same companies.
The bill is cosponsored by Green and U.S. Reps. August Pfluger (R-TX) and John Moolenaar (R-MI).
“The United States must decouple from Communist China in all facets of our lives,” Gimenez said. “With the passage of this bill, we reaffirm and continue to decouple ourselves from Communist China but also call on our own domestic industries to produce critically important materials. We must proactively stay ahead and address these threats that undermine the U.S. supply chain and leave our national security at risk.”
H.R. 708, introduced by U.S. Rep. Dale Strong (R-AL), would create a working group within DHS to investigate and report on DHS’s efforts to counter threats posed by the CCP, including the use of nontraditional tactics and exploitation of the U.S. immigration system. The bill would require the group to provide a report to Congress annually for five years.
“We can no longer stand idly by while one of our greatest adversaries exploits and undermines our national sovereignty; it is past time a dedicated team at DHS is established to assess these threats,” Strong, the chair of the Subcommittee on Emergency Management and Technology, said.
The bill was cosponsored by Green, Moolenaar and Pfluger, as well as U.S. Reps. Michael Guest (R-MS), Clay Higgins (R-LA), Morgan Luttrell (R-TX), Gabe Evans (R-CO), and Tom Suozzi (D-NY).
Both pieces of legislation previously passed in the House during the 118th Congress.