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Federal

ECON Act

Source: Congress.gov  ·  16,301 words in original text
What This Bill Does
This bill strengthens the U.S. State Department's ability to support American businesses and economic interests abroad. It requires the government to help U.S. companies find trade and investment opportunities in foreign countries, work with allies on shared economic goals, and counter unfair economic practices by foreign governments. ##
Who It Affects
- Foreign Service economic officers (diplomats who handle business and trade issues at U.S. embassies) - U.S. companies doing business internationally, especially small and medium-sized businesses - State Department employees and other federal agencies working on international economics - Developing countries that partner with the United States - Countries in Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, and the Indo-Pacific region ##
Key Provisions
- The State Department must direct economic officers to negotiate trade agreements, help U.S. businesses find overseas opportunities, and counter unfair practices by authoritarian governments (Sec. 101) - The State Department will establish a new award recognizing outstanding contributions to economic and commercial diplomacy, with a cash award of $15,000 per recipient (Sec. 102) - "Deal teams" at U.S. embassies will identify commercial opportunities for American companies and help secure government support for strategic projects (Sec. 202) - The President can deploy "economic defense response teams" to help ally countries under economic pressure from adversaries (Sec. 204) - The State Department will establish a center in Southeast Asia to train officials from that region and Pacific Islands nations in economic governance skills (Sec. 301) - The State Department will create an "Infrastructure Transaction and Assistance Network" to help Indo-Pacific countries develop quality infrastructure projects (Sec. 303) - A pilot program will identify barriers to trade and investment in developing partner countries and provide assistance to reduce those barriers (Sec. 401) ##
What Changes
The State Department's economic officers gain new duties to actively support American business interests abroad through negotiations, market information sharing, and deal facilitation. Embassy "deal teams" become formalized structures with specific missions to help U.S. companies. The government gains authority to rapidly deploy teams to countries facing economic coercion. New awards recognize superior economic diplomacy work. The State Department must report annually to Congress on deal team activities and results. Training programs for foreign officials will expand U.S. influence in developing regions. ##
Important Definitions
**Foreign Service cone:** Not specified in bill text **Authoritarian government:** Not specified in bill text (the bill refers to "policies, initiatives, or activities by authoritarian governments") **United States person:** Means a U.S. citizen, a permanent resident alien, or an entity organized under U.S. laws including foreign branches of U.S. entities (Sec. 101) **Deal team:** Not explicitly defined; the bill describes it as a team at U.S. embassies focused on identifying trade and investment opportunities **Coercive economic practices:** Not explicitly defined; the bill describes these as "urgent or specific threat or use of coercive economic practices by an adversary" (Sec. 204) **Pacific Islands:** Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu (Sec. 301) **Southeast Asia:** Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and Timor-Leste (Sec. 301) ##
Effective Date
Not specified in bill text (though various reporting and implementation deadlines range from 180 days to 270 days after enactment for different sections)
Important: This plain English summary was generated by AI and is provided for informational purposes only. It is not legal advice. Always consult the official bill text on Congress.gov or a qualified attorney for legal matters.