Accountability for Persistent Intellectual Property Theft Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8846 To authorize the imposition of sanctions on certain persons engaged in a pattern of significant theft of United States intellectual property, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 3, 2020 Mr. CHABOT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the Judi- ciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To authorize the imposition of sanctions on certain persons engaged in a pattern of significant theft of United States intellectual property, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Accountability for Per- 4 sistent Intellectual Property Theft Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall impose the 7 sanctions described in subsection (b) with respect to each 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:58 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8846.IH H8846 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8846 IH person described in subsection (c) the President deter- 1 mines, on or after the date of the enactment of this Act, 2 is knowingly engaging in a pattern of significant theft of 3 the intellectual property of United States persons. 4 (b) SANCTIONS IMPOSED.—The sanctions described 5 in this subsection are the following: 6 (1) ASSET BLOCKING.—The exercise of all pow- 7 ers granted to the President by the International 8 Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 9 et seq.) to the extent necessary to block and prohibit 10 all transactions in all property and interests in prop- 11 erty of a person described in subsection (a) if such 12 property and interests in property are in the United 13 States, come within the United States, or are or 14 come within the possession or control of a United 15 States person. 16 (2) ALIENS INELIGIBLE FOR VISAS, ADMISSION, 17 OR PAROLE.— 18 (A) VISAS, ADMISSION, OR PAROLE.—An 19 alien described in subsection (a) is— 20 (i) inadmissible to the United States; 21 (ii) ineligible to receive a visa or other 22 documentation to enter the United States; 23 and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:58 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8846.IH H8846 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8846 IH (iii) otherwise ineligible to be admitted 1 or paroled into the United States or to re- 2 ceive any other benefit under the Immigra- 3 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et 4 seq.). 5 (B) CURRENT VISAS REVOKED.— 6 (i) IN GENERAL.—The issuing con- 7 sular officer, the Secretary of State, or the 8 Secretary of Homeland Security (or a des- 9 ignee of one of such Secretaries) shall, in 10 accordance with section 221(i) of the Im- 11 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 12 1201(i)), revoke any visa or other entry 13 documentation issued to an alien who the 14 Secretary of State or the Secretary of 15 Homeland Security (or a designee of one of 16 such Secretaries) determines is described 17 in subsection (a), regardless of when the 18 visa or other documentation is issued. 19 (ii) EFFECT OF REVOCATION.—A rev- 20 ocation under clause (i) shall take effect 21 immediately and shall automatically cancel 22 any other valid visa or entry documenta- 23 tion that is in the alien’s possession. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:58 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8846.IH H8846 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8846 IH (3) EXCEPTION TO COMPLY WITH UNITED NA- 1 TIONS HEADQUARTERS AGREEMENT.—The authority 2 to impose the sanctions described in paragraph 3 (2)(B) shall not apply to an alien if admitting the 4 alien into the United States is necessary to permit 5 the United States to comply with the Agreement re- 6 garding the Headquarters of the United Nations, 7 signed at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered 8 into force November 21, 1947, between the United 9 Nations and the United States, or other applicable 10 international obligations. 11 (c) PERSONS DESCRIBED.—A person described in 12 this section is one of the following: 13 (1) An individual who— 14 (A) is a national of the People’s Republic 15 of China or acting at the direction of a national 16 or entity of the People’s Republic of China; and 17 (B) is not a United States person. 18 (2) An entity that is— 19 (A) organized under the laws of the Peo- 20 ple’s Republic of China or of any jurisdiction 21 within the People’s Republic of China; 22 (B) owned or controlled by individuals who 23 are nationals of the People’s Republic of China; 24 or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:58 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8846.IH H8846 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8846 IH (C) owned or controlled by an entity de- 1 scribed in subparagraph (A) and is not a 2 United States person. 3 (d) PENALTIES; IMPLEMENTATION.— 4 (1) PENALTIES.—A person that violates, at- 5 tempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a 6 violation of subsection (a) or any regulation, license, 7 or order issued to carry out subsection (a) shall be 8 subject to the penalties set forth in subsections (b) 9 and (c) of section 206 of the International Emer- 10 gency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the 11 same extent as a person that commits an unlawful 12 act described in subsection (a) of that section. 13 (2) IMPLEMENTATION.—The President may ex- 14 ercise all authorities provided to the President under 15 sections 203 and 205 of the International Emer- 16 gency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 17 1704) for purposes of carrying out this section. 18 (e) REPORT REQUIRED.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 20 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 21 President shall submit to the Committee on Foreign 22 Affairs of the House of Representatives and the 23 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a re- 24 port that specifies each person the President deter- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:58 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8846.IH H8846 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8846 IH mines meets the criteria described in subsection (a) 1 for the imposition of sanctions. 2 (2) TERMINATION OF SANCTIONS.—The Presi- 3 dent may terminate sanctions imposed under sub- 4 section (a) with respect to a person if the President 5 certifies to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 6 House of Representatives and the Committee on 7 Foreign Relations of the Senate that such person is 8 no longer engaging in efforts to steal United States 9 intellectual property. 10 (f) WAIVER.—The President may waive the imposi- 11 tion of sanctions under subsection (a) on a case-by-case 12 basis with respect to a person if the President— 13 (1) certifies to the Committee on Foreign Af- 14 fairs and the Committee on the Judiciary of the 15 House of Representatives and the Committee on 16 Foreign Relations and the Committee on the Judici- 17 ary of the Senate that such waiver is in the national 18 security interests of the United States; and 19 (2) includes a justification for such certifi- 20 cation. 21 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 22 (1) ADMITTED; ALIEN.—The terms ‘‘admitted’’ 23 and ‘‘alien’’ have the meanings given those terms in 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:58 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8846.IH H8846 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8846 IH section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 1 (8 U.S.C. 1101). 2 (2) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 3 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 4 (A) an individual who is a United States 5 citizen or an alien lawfully admitted for perma- 6 nent residence to the United States; or 7 (B) an entity organized under the laws of 8 the United States or of any jurisdiction within 9 the United States. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:58 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8846.IH H8846 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS