Over a year has passed since the US-China trade dispute deteriorated into a full-blown trade war involving tariffs and sanctions.
While at first these sanctions focused on manufactured goods recently, the trade war has begun to concern technology. The Trump administration, through the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), has blocked or delayed on grounds of national security concerns several high-profile investments by Chinese groups, such as Broadcom’s acquisition of Qualcomm, Alibaba’s bid for MoneyGram, and several acquisitions by ZTE in the US.
Recently, the US has begun to encourage its allies, including Israel, to establish agencies like CFIUS to oversee foreign investments by Chinese companies, and to warn that the access of startups with Chinese shareholders to the US might be blocked by future CFIUS regulations. These trends result in growing uncertainty over the scope and purview of CFIUS and the implications of the CFIUS review process.
Dr. Ira Ryk-Lakhman explains all in our client update. Click here for more.