Understanding the Impacts of CFIUS Reform and Emerging Technologies

On August 14, 2018, legislation reforming the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRRMA), and dual-use export controls, the Export Controls Reform Act (ECRA), were signed into law as part of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (NDAA) (H.R. 5515, 115th Cong. (2018)). This legislation expands the CFIUS’ authority to review investment in U.S. businesses and expand the scope of controlled technologies to include emerging technologies not currently controlled.