Sanctions for Trade Secret Thieves Part of Senate-Passed Bill

A bill aimed at boosting U.S. competition with China that the Senate passed overwhelmingly includes a requirement for the president to sanction foreign trade secrets thieves.

Every six months, the president must report to Congress foreign companies or individuals engaged in trade secrets theft likely to cause “significant threat to the national security, foreign policy, or economic health or financial stability of the United States.”

The president must then impose at least five sanctions on those entities from a list of 12, including freezing U.S.-based assets, barring transactions with U.S. banks, and securing U.S. government contracts.

The provision aims to ...