Protect America’s Innovation and Economic Security from CCP Act of 2024
Key claim: HR1398 would reestablish the DOJ’s China Initiative as the ‘CCP Initiative’ within the National Security Division to counter Chinese espionage, trade secret theft, hacking, and threats to U.S. critical infrastructure.
Abstract
(HR1398 · 118th Congress) Protect America’s Innovation and Economic Security from CCP Act This bill reestablishes an initiative related to China within the National Security Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and outlines the goals and requirements for this initiative. In 2022, DOJ ended a program named the China Initiative. This bill reestablishes and renames it the CCP Initiative to (1) counter nation-state threats to the United States; (2) curb spying by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on U.S. intellectual property and academic institutions; (3) identify and prosecute individuals engaged in trade secret theft, hacking, and economic espionage; and (4) protect U.S. critical infrastructure from foreign threats. DOJ must annually brief specified congressional committees on the progress and challenges of the initiative. The initiative terminates six years after enactment of this bill. Latest action (2024-09-16): Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Why this matters
Reestablishing the China Initiative as a statutory DOJ program would formalize a criminal-enforcement backstop to U.S. trade-secret and export-control regimes, directly affecting exporters and researchers with China exposure through heightened investigation risk. For the Trade area, it signals a shift from purely regulatory (BIS, OFAC, CBP) tools toward prosecutorial deterrence of technology transfer, and would sit alongside export-enforcement and adversary-focused bills as part of a broader China-decoupling policy stack.