HR2503-119

What This Bill Does

Requires the President, acting through the Secretary of Commerce and in coordination with the Secretary of State, to develop and repeatedly report on a strategy to eliminate foreign adversaries' access to goods and technologies needed to construct, maintain, or operate undersea cables, while pursuing allied export-control agreements and evaluating additional Commerce controls.

Who Benefits and How

United States and allied undersea-cable security could benefit from tighter export-control coordination that makes it harder for foreign adversaries to obtain the equipment, software, and technology needed to build or support cable networks.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Commerce, State, and the White House must identify relevant items, negotiate with allies, brief Congress, and justify export-control decisions, while foreign-adversary-linked firms face a more restrictive supply environment.

Key Provisions

• Requires a strategy identifying items needed for undersea cable projects, existing United States and multilateral controls, allied market capacity, and foreign adversary involvement.
• Requires an initial report within 180 days and annual public reports for three years, with optional classified annexes.
• Requires the President within one year to seek bilateral or multilateral agreements with allies and partners to eliminate availability of covered items to foreign adversaries and include penalty provisions.
• Requires the Secretary of Commerce to evaluate the identified items for additional Export Administration Regulations controls and to report annually on those decisions.