Cotton, Hagerty Introduce Legislation to Expose Foreign Subsidies in Merger Filings

Press Release

Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Bill Hagerty (R-Tennessee) today introduced the Foreign Merger Subsidy Disclosure Act, legislation that would require companies to disclose financial support from adversarial foreign governments and entities in premerger notification filings to U.S. antitrust regulators. Bill text may be found here.

"The Chinese Communist Party is attempting to gain power by manipulating the market and undercutting American businesses. Our bill will promote transparency in antitrust filings, and allow regulators to examine whether a company may act anticompetitively because it has the backing of foreign subsidies," said Cotton.

"Congress cannot ignore the malign actions and intellectual property theft of the Chinese Communist Party and its attempt to harm American businesses and workers. This legislation ensures transparency, giving regulators the ability to thoroughly examine the influence of foreign governments in business mergers," said Hagerty.

Representative Scott Fitzgerald (R-Wisconsin) introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives in October 2021.

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