Sen. Rubio backs executive order to prohibit US investments in Chinese firms on DoD list

President Donald Trump issued an executive order to prohibit U.S. investments in Chinese firms on the U.S. Department of Defense list of Chinese military companies.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who introduced legislation in October that mirrors the EO, applauded the move. Rubio’s American Financial Markets Integrity and Security Act would prohibit malign Chinese companies — including the parent, subsidiary, affiliate, or a controlling entity — that are listed on the U.S. Department of Commerce Entity List or the U.S. Department of Defense list of Chinese military companies from accessing U.S. capital markets.

“The Chinese Communist Party’s exploitation of U.S. capital markets is a clear and ongoing risk to U.S. economic and national security, and today’s action by the Trump Administration is a welcome start to protecting our markets and investors,” Rubio said. “Congress should quickly follow suit by passing my American Financial Markets Integrity and Security Act, which would ban these companies from operating in U.S. capital markets and make clear to the Communist Party that they will no longer be able to take advantage of our financial system. Importantly, today’s action also lays down a clear marker for U.S. policy going forward — we can never put the interests of the Chinese Communist Party and Wall Street above American workers and mom and pop investors.”

There are more than 30 Chinese companies that were identified on lists released in June and August 2020 by the Pentagon. This includes those companies sanctioned by the U.S. government operating in the U.S. capital market system and are involved in military, espionage, human rights abuses, “Military-Civil Fusion Strategy,” and the Made in China 2025’ industrial policy.

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission identified 156 Chinese companies, including 11 state-owned-enterprises, that are listed on America’s three largest exchanges with a combined market capitalization of $1.2 trillion.