1 | 1 | | II |
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2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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3 | 3 | | 1 |
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4 | 4 | | STSESSION S. 985 |
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5 | 5 | | To prohibit entities integral to the national interests of the United States |
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6 | 6 | | from participating in any foreign sustainability due diligence regulation, |
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7 | 7 | | including the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive of the |
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8 | 8 | | European Union, and for other purposes. |
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9 | 9 | | IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES |
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10 | 10 | | MARCH12, 2025 |
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11 | 11 | | Mr. H |
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12 | 12 | | AGERTYintroduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred |
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13 | 13 | | to the Committee on Foreign Relations |
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14 | 14 | | A BILL |
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15 | 15 | | To prohibit entities integral to the national interests of the |
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16 | 16 | | United States from participating in any foreign sustain- |
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17 | 17 | | ability due diligence regulation, including the Corporate |
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18 | 18 | | Sustainability Due Diligence Directive of the European |
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19 | 19 | | Union, and for other purposes. |
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20 | 20 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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21 | 21 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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22 | 22 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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23 | 23 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Prevent Regulatory 4 |
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24 | 24 | | Overreach from Turning Essential Companies into Tar-5 |
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25 | 25 | | gets Act of 2025’’ or the ‘‘PROTECT USA Act of 2025’’. 6 |
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28 | 28 | | •S 985 IS |
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29 | 29 | | SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 |
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30 | 30 | | Congress makes the following findings: 2 |
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31 | 31 | | (1) The ability of citizens of the United States 3 |
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32 | 32 | | to engage in international commerce is a funda-4 |
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33 | 33 | | mental concern of the policy of the United States. 5 |
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34 | 34 | | (2) Entities in the extractive and manufac-6 |
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35 | 35 | | turing sectors contribute significantly to the pros-7 |
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36 | 36 | | perity of the United States and the growth of the 8 |
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37 | 37 | | world economy. 9 |
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38 | 38 | | (3) Maintaining and, in some cases, increasing 10 |
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39 | 39 | | access to certain supplies and materials from the ex-11 |
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40 | 40 | | tractive sector, including agriculture, energy, mining, 12 |
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41 | 41 | | and timber, and access to materials from the manu-13 |
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42 | 42 | | facturing sector, are critically important for pro-14 |
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43 | 43 | | moting economic development and human progress 15 |
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44 | 44 | | in the United States and around the world. 16 |
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45 | 45 | | (4) Restrictions, particularly restrictions adopt-17 |
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46 | 46 | | ed unilaterally by foreign countries that are substan-18 |
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47 | 47 | | tially different from restrictions applied by the 19 |
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48 | 48 | | United States, that unreasonably hinder the ability 20 |
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49 | 49 | | of entities integral to the national interests of the 21 |
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50 | 50 | | United States to pursue their commercial activities 22 |
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51 | 51 | | can have serious adverse effects on employment, eco-23 |
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52 | 52 | | nomic stability, scientific progress, and international 24 |
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53 | 53 | | trade, with the potential to impede domestic and for-25 |
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54 | 54 | | eign policy goals. 26 |
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57 | 57 | | •S 985 IS |
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58 | 58 | | SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 1 |
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59 | 59 | | In this Act: 2 |
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60 | 60 | | (1) E |
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61 | 61 | | NTITY INTEGRAL TO THE NATIONAL IN -3 |
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62 | 62 | | TERESTS OF THE UNITED STATES .—The term ‘‘enti-4 |
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63 | 63 | | ty integral to the national interests of the United 5 |
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64 | 64 | | States’’ means any partnership, corporation, limited 6 |
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65 | 65 | | liability company, or other business entity that— 7 |
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66 | 66 | | (A) does business with any part of the 8 |
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67 | 67 | | Federal Government, including Federal contract 9 |
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68 | 68 | | awards or leases; 10 |
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69 | 69 | | (B) is organized under the laws of any 11 |
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70 | 70 | | State or territory within the United States, or 12 |
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71 | 71 | | of the District of Columbia, or under any Act 13 |
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72 | 72 | | of Congress or a foreign subsidiary of any such 14 |
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73 | 73 | | entity that— 15 |
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74 | 74 | | (i) derives not less than 25 percent of 16 |
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75 | 75 | | its revenue from activities related to the 17 |
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76 | 76 | | extraction or production of raw materials 18 |
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77 | 77 | | from the earth, including— 19 |
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78 | 78 | | (I) cultivating biomass (whether 20 |
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79 | 79 | | or not for human consumption); 21 |
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80 | 80 | | (II) exploring or producing fossil 22 |
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81 | 81 | | fuels; 23 |
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82 | 82 | | (III) mining; and 24 |
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83 | 83 | | (IV) processing any material de-25 |
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84 | 84 | | rived from an activity described in 26 |
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87 | 87 | | •S 985 IS |
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88 | 88 | | subclause (I), (II), or (III) for human 1 |
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89 | 89 | | use or benefit; 2 |
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90 | 90 | | (ii) has a primary North American In-3 |
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91 | 91 | | dustry Classification System code or for-4 |
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92 | 92 | | eign equivalent associated with the manu-5 |
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93 | 93 | | facturing sector; 6 |
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94 | 94 | | (iii) derives not less than 25 percent 7 |
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95 | 95 | | of its revenue from activities related to the 8 |
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96 | 96 | | mechanical, physical, or chemical trans-9 |
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97 | 97 | | formation of materials, substances, or com-10 |
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98 | 98 | | ponents into new products; or 11 |
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99 | 99 | | (iv) is engaged in— 12 |
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100 | 100 | | (I) the production of arms or 13 |
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101 | 101 | | other products integral to the national 14 |
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102 | 102 | | defense of the United States; or 15 |
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103 | 103 | | (II) the production, mining, or 16 |
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104 | 104 | | processing of any critical mineral; or 17 |
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105 | 105 | | (C) the President otherwise identifies as 18 |
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106 | 106 | | integral to the national interests of the United 19 |
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107 | 107 | | States. 20 |
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108 | 108 | | (2) C |
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109 | 109 | | RITICAL MINERAL.—The term ‘‘critical 21 |
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110 | 110 | | mineral’’ includes— 22 |
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111 | 111 | | (A) any mineral identified as a critical 23 |
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112 | 112 | | mineral in section 7002(a) of the Energy Act of 24 |
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113 | 113 | | 2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606(a)); or 25 |
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116 | 116 | | •S 985 IS |
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117 | 117 | | (B) any fuel mineral, including fossil fuels 1 |
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118 | 118 | | and any fraction, distillate, or other by-product 2 |
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119 | 119 | | of a fuel mineral. 3 |
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120 | 120 | | (3) F |
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121 | 121 | | OREIGN SUSTAINABILITY DUE DILIGENCE 4 |
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122 | 122 | | REGULATION.— 5 |
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123 | 123 | | (A) I |
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124 | 124 | | N GENERAL.—Except as provided in 6 |
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125 | 125 | | subparagraph (B), the term ‘‘foreign sustain-7 |
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126 | 126 | | ability due diligence regulation’’ means any law, 8 |
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127 | 127 | | regulation, or other legal instrument adopted by 9 |
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128 | 128 | | a foreign government that requires any person 10 |
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129 | 129 | | to undertake— 11 |
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130 | 130 | | (i) an assessment of the environ-12 |
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131 | 131 | | mental or social impacts of its operations 13 |
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132 | 132 | | or value chain; 14 |
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133 | 133 | | (ii) action to address any impacts 15 |
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134 | 134 | | identified in the assessment described in 16 |
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135 | 135 | | clause (i); and 17 |
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136 | 136 | | (iii) reporting of the impacts and ac-18 |
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137 | 137 | | tions described in clauses (i) and (ii). 19 |
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138 | 138 | | (B) E |
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139 | 139 | | XCEPTION.—The term ‘‘foreign sus-20 |
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140 | 140 | | tainability due diligence regulation’’ does not 21 |
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141 | 141 | | apply to any law, regulation, or other legal in-22 |
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142 | 142 | | strument that is substantively similar to a law, 23 |
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143 | 143 | | regulation, or other legal instrument that has 24 |
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146 | 146 | | •S 985 IS |
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147 | 147 | | been adopted or approved by an Act of Con-1 |
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148 | 148 | | gress. 2 |
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149 | 149 | | (C) I |
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150 | 150 | | NCLUSION OF CORPORATE SUSTAIN -3 |
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151 | 151 | | ABILITY DUE DILIGENCE DIRECTIVE .—The 4 |
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152 | 152 | | term ‘‘foreign sustainability due diligence regu-5 |
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153 | 153 | | lation’’ includes— 6 |
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154 | 154 | | (i) the entirety of the Corporate Sus-7 |
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155 | 155 | | tainability Due Diligence Directive adopted 8 |
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156 | 156 | | by the European Union; 9 |
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157 | 157 | | (ii) any successor directive adopted by 10 |
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158 | 158 | | the European Union or any member coun-11 |
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159 | 159 | | try of the European Union; and 12 |
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160 | 160 | | (iii) any precursor directive adopted 13 |
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161 | 161 | | by any member country of the European 14 |
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162 | 162 | | Union. 15 |
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163 | 163 | | SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON COMPLIANCE WITH FOREIGN SUS-16 |
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164 | 164 | | TAINABILITY DUE DILIGENCE REGULATIONS. 17 |
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165 | 165 | | (a) I |
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166 | 166 | | NGENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 18 |
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167 | 167 | | (b), no entity integral to the national interests of the 19 |
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168 | 168 | | United States may comply with any foreign sustainability 20 |
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169 | 169 | | due diligence regulation. 21 |
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170 | 170 | | (b) E |
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171 | 171 | | XCEPTION FOR ORDINARYBUSINESSACTIVI-22 |
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172 | 172 | | TIES.—Subsection (a) does not prohibit an entity from un-23 |
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173 | 173 | | dertaking actions that it may lawfully take— 24 |
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176 | 176 | | •S 985 IS |
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177 | 177 | | (1) to comply with a statute of the United 1 |
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178 | 178 | | States; or 2 |
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179 | 179 | | (2) in the ordinary course of business. 3 |
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180 | 180 | | (c) H |
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181 | 181 | | ARDSHIPRELIEFPROCESS.— 4 |
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182 | 182 | | (1) P |
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183 | 183 | | ETITION FOR RELIEF .—Any entity inte-5 |
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184 | 184 | | gral to the national interests of the United States 6 |
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185 | 185 | | that believes it will experience particular hardship in 7 |
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186 | 186 | | connection with the prohibition described in sub-8 |
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187 | 187 | | section (a) may petition the President for an exemp-9 |
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188 | 188 | | tion from such prohibition. 10 |
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189 | 189 | | (2) D |
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190 | 190 | | ECISION.—Not later than 30 days after 11 |
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191 | 191 | | the date on which the President receives a petition 12 |
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192 | 192 | | from an entity submitted under paragraph (1), the 13 |
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193 | 193 | | President shall provide a written decision to the en-14 |
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194 | 194 | | tity that— 15 |
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195 | 195 | | (A) grants or denies the requested exemp-16 |
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196 | 196 | | tion; 17 |
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197 | 197 | | (B) contains a statement setting forth the 18 |
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198 | 198 | | basis for the decision; and 19 |
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199 | 199 | | (C) in the case of a granted exemption, de-20 |
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200 | 200 | | scribes any condition that the exemption is sub-21 |
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201 | 201 | | ject to, as determined by the President. 22 |
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202 | 202 | | (3) F |
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203 | 203 | | ACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED .—In making 23 |
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204 | 204 | | the decision required by paragraph (2), the Presi-24 |
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205 | 205 | | dent shall consider— 25 |
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208 | 208 | | •S 985 IS |
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209 | 209 | | (A) the extent to which the denial of a pe-1 |
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210 | 210 | | tition submitted under paragraph (1) by an en-2 |
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211 | 211 | | tity would result in the inability of the entity to 3 |
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212 | 212 | | participate in value chains associated with prod-4 |
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213 | 213 | | ucts essential for domestic use in the United 5 |
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214 | 214 | | States; 6 |
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215 | 215 | | (B) possible adverse effects on the econ-7 |
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216 | 216 | | omy in any locality or region of the United 8 |
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217 | 217 | | States, including adverse effects on employ-9 |
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218 | 218 | | ment; 10 |
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219 | 219 | | (C) the degree to which granting the peti-11 |
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220 | 220 | | tion would impact, directly or indirectly, the 12 |
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221 | 221 | | United States; and 13 |
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222 | 222 | | (D) the extent to which denial of the peti-14 |
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223 | 223 | | tion would prevent the entity from divesting in 15 |
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224 | 224 | | a business formed under the laws of a jurisdic-16 |
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225 | 225 | | tion subject to a foreign sustainability due dili-17 |
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226 | 226 | | gence regulation. 18 |
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227 | 227 | | SEC. 5. PROHIBITION AGAINST ADVERSE ACTION FOR COM-19 |
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228 | 228 | | PLIANCE WITH THIS ACT. 20 |
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229 | 229 | | (a) I |
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230 | 230 | | NGENERAL.—No person may take any adverse 21 |
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231 | 231 | | action towards an entity integral to the national interests 22 |
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232 | 232 | | of the United States for action or inaction related to a 23 |
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233 | 233 | | foreign sustainability due diligence regulation. 24 |
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236 | 236 | | •S 985 IS |
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237 | 237 | | (b) JUDGMENTS FORFOREIGNSUSTAINABILITYDUE 1 |
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238 | 238 | | D |
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239 | 239 | | ILIGENCEREGULATIONS.—No judgment by a foreign 2 |
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240 | 240 | | court brought against an entity integral to the national 3 |
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241 | 241 | | interests of the United States in relation to any foreign 4 |
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242 | 242 | | sustainability due diligence regulation shall be recognized 5 |
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243 | 243 | | in the courts of the United States or of the States, unless 6 |
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244 | 244 | | otherwise provided by an Act of Congress. 7 |
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245 | 245 | | (c) E |
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246 | 246 | | NFORCEMENT.— 8 |
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247 | 247 | | (1) A |
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248 | 248 | | CTIONS BY THE PRESIDENT .— 9 |
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249 | 249 | | (A) I |
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250 | 250 | | N GENERAL.—The President shall 10 |
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251 | 251 | | take any action the President determines is in 11 |
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252 | 252 | | the public interest to protect an entity integral 12 |
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253 | 253 | | to the national interests of the United States 13 |
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254 | 254 | | from an adverse action related to a foreign sus-14 |
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255 | 255 | | tainability due diligence regulation. 15 |
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256 | 256 | | (B) D |
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257 | 257 | | ETERMINATION OF PUBLIC INTER -16 |
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258 | 258 | | EST.—In determining under subparagraph (A) 17 |
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259 | 259 | | whether an action by the President is in the 18 |
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260 | 260 | | public interest, the President shall take into ac-19 |
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261 | 261 | | count the impact of the adverse action de-20 |
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262 | 262 | | scribed in that subparagraph on— 21 |
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263 | 263 | | (i) consumers and businesses in the 22 |
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264 | 264 | | United States; 23 |
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265 | 265 | | (ii) the economic, energy, and environ-24 |
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266 | 266 | | mental security of the United States; and 25 |
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270 | 270 | | (iii) foreign relations of the United 1 |
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271 | 271 | | States, including existing international 2 |
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272 | 272 | | commitments. 3 |
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273 | 273 | | (2) P |
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274 | 274 | | RIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 4 |
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275 | 275 | | (A) I |
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276 | 276 | | N GENERAL.—Any entity integral to 5 |
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277 | 277 | | the national interests of the United States ag-6 |
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278 | 278 | | grieved by a violation of subsection (a) may 7 |
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279 | 279 | | bring a civil action against the person that vio-8 |
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280 | 280 | | lated subsection (a) in an appropriate district 9 |
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281 | 281 | | court of the United States. 10 |
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282 | 282 | | (B) R |
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283 | 283 | | ELIEF.—In a civil action brought 11 |
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284 | 284 | | under subparagraph (A) in which the plaintiff 12 |
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285 | 285 | | prevails, the court may award— 13 |
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286 | 286 | | (i) a writ of mandamus or other equi-14 |
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287 | 287 | | table or declaratory relief; 15 |
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288 | 288 | | (ii) punitive damages not to exceed 16 |
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289 | 289 | | the maximum penalty described in para-17 |
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290 | 290 | | graph (3)(A); 18 |
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291 | 291 | | (iii) reasonable attorney fees and liti-19 |
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292 | 292 | | gation costs; 20 |
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293 | 293 | | (iv) compensatory damages, including 21 |
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294 | 294 | | any amount paid by the entity pursuant to 22 |
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295 | 295 | | the applicable foreign sustainability due 23 |
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296 | 296 | | diligence regulation; and 24 |
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297 | 297 | | (v) all other appropriate relief. 25 |
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301 | 301 | | (3) PENALTIES.—A person that violates sub-1 |
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302 | 302 | | section (a) or a regulation issued pursuant to this 2 |
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303 | 303 | | Act— 3 |
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304 | 304 | | (A) shall be subject to a civil penalty of 4 |
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305 | 305 | | not more than $1,000,000; and 5 |
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306 | 306 | | (B) may, at the discretion of the Presi-6 |
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307 | 307 | | dent, for a period of not longer than 3 years 7 |
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308 | 308 | | from the date on which the person is found in 8 |
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309 | 309 | | violation, be deemed ineligible to submit a bid 9 |
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310 | 310 | | for any Federal award or contract. 10 |
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311 | 311 | | Æ |
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