Tag: NCCDA

New York Law Journal: Recent Developments in U.S. Supply Chain Security

Preparing for Compliance Risks Under the ICTS Rules, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, and the National Critical Capabilities Defense Act

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New York Law Journal, September 22, 2022

Anthony Rapa and Justin A. Chiarodo ●

Supply chain security remains a key bipartisan policy goal and burgeoning compliance risk area. This article examines three recent initiatives that exemplify these trends: the regulations on securing the Information and Communications Technology and Services supply chain, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, and the proposed National Critical Capabilities Defense Act.

Companies with cross-border supply chains should assess their exposure under these emerging regimes and prioritize their compliance efforts accordingly. The risk profile is greatest for companies developing technology and software across borders; companies importing items produced in (or incorporating components produced in) the Xinjiang region of China; parties seeking to invest in certain critical capabilities outside the United States; and government contractors that may be exposed to foreign adversaries in their supply chains.

Information and Communications Technology and Services Rules

One pillar of the U.S. government’s developing architecture for supply chain security is the U.S. Department of Commerce’s (Commerce’s) regulations on Securing the Information and Communications Technology and Services (ICTS) Supply Chain (ICTS Regulations), set out at 15 C.F.R. Part 7. Promulgated pursuant to Executive Order 13873, the rulemaking identifies the ICTS supply chain as critical to “nearly every aspect” of national security, acknowledging the degree to which American government, business, and the economy at large rely on ICTS. See Securing the Information and Communications Technology and Services Supply Chain, 86 Fed. Reg. 4909 (Jan. 19, 2021).

The ICTS Regulations empower Commerce to review, prohibit, or restrict specified “ICTS Transactions” that present national security risks. The term “ICTS Transactions” is defined broadly to include: “any acquisition, importation, transfer, installation, dealing in, or use of any information and communications technology or service, including ongoing activities, such as managed services, data transmission, software updates, repairs, or the platforming or data hosting of applications for consumer download.”

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C4ISRNET: Congress May Tighten Scrutiny of U.S. Investment in Foreign Technologies

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C4ISRNET, September 1, 2022

Justin A. Chiarodo and Anthony Rapa ●

Building on recent national security initiatives to shore up the protection of U.S. critical assets from strategic adversaries (notably including China and Russia), Congress is considering new government powers to review outbound U.S. investments in certain high-technology sectors.

Inbound foreign investments in key sectors are reviewed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). However, screening of outbound investments – a so-called “reverse CFIUS” – would be new, and could significantly impact industries ranging from aerospace and defense to fintech to pharmaceuticals.

How did we get here?

The last several years have witnessed an accelerated national security pivot from the twenty-year global war on terror to strategic competition with major state adversaries. Unclassified assessments of the U.S. national security posture reveal significant threats in domains ranging from artificial intelligence to hypersonic weapons to energy, many of which have been exacerbated by the theft of U.S. technology. The legislation proposing a “reverse CFIUS” review would seek to counter these threats by adding new controls to the flow of U.S. capital and intellectual property abroad.

The contemplated regime formally originated with the proposed National Critical Capabilities Defense Act (NCCDA), which passed the House of Representatives in February 2022 as part of the America COMPETES Act of 2022, H.R. 4521, a larger package focused on U.S. domestic semiconductor production and other aspects of U.S. competitiveness (certain elements of which, not including the NCCDA, eventually were signed into law as part of the CHIPS and Science Act in August 2022). Most notably, the NCCDA would create a Committee on National Critical Capabilities (the “Committee”), with authority to review – and block – covered outbound foreign investments.

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