II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4901 

To require the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology 

to commission a study on the effect of the activities of China on standards for emerging technologies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 16, 2020 

Ms. CORTEZ MASTO (for herself and Mr. PORTMAN) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To require the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology to commission a study on the effect 

of the activities of China on standards for emerging 

technologies, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ensuring American 

5 Leadership over International Standards Act of 2020’’. 


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•S 4901 IS

1 SEC. 2. STUDY ON CHINESE POLICIES AND INFLUENCE IN 

2 THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTERNATIONAL 

3 STANDARDS FOR EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

5 date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Na6 tional Institute of Standards and Technology shall enter 

7 into an agreement with an appropriate nongovernmental 

8 entity with relevant expertise, as determined by the Direc9 tor, to conduct a study and make recommendations with 

10 respect to the effect of the policies of the People’s Republic 

11 of China and coordination among industrial entities within 

12 the People’s Republic of China on international bodies en13 gaged in developing and setting international standards 

14 for emerging technologies. The study may include— 

15 (1) an assessment of how the role of the Peo16 ple’s Republic of China in international standards 

17 setting organizations has grown over the previous 10 

18 years, including in leadership roles in standards19 drafting technical committees, and the quality or 

20 value of that participation; 

21 (2) an assessment of the impact of the stand22 ardization strategy of the People’s Republic of 

23 China, as identified in the ‘‘Chinese Standard 2035’’ 

24 on international bodies engaged in developing and 

25 setting standards for select emerging technologies, 


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•S 4901 IS

1 such as advanced communication technologies or 

2 cloud computing and cloud services; 

3 (3) an examination of whether international 

4 standards for select emerging technologies are being 

5 designed to promote interests of the People’s Repub6 lic of China that are expressed in the ‘‘Made in 

7 China 2025’’ plan to the exclusion of other partici8 pants; 

9 (4) an examination of how the previous prac10 tices that the People’s Republic of China has utilized 

11 while participating in international standards setting 

12 organizations may foretell how the People’s Republic 

13 of China will engage in international standardization 

14 activities of critical technologies like artificial intel15 ligence and quantum information science, and what 

16 may be the consequences; 

17 (5) an examination of the current role of part18 ners and allies of the United States in the inter19 national standards setting process for emerging 

20 technologies; 

21 (6) recommendations on how the United States 

22 can take steps— 

23 (A) to mitigate influence of the People’s 

24 Republic of China; 


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•S 4901 IS

1 (B) to bolster United States public and 

2 private sector participation in international 

3 standards-setting bodies; and 

4 (C) to cooperate with allies and partners of 

5 the United States to counter influence of the 

6 People’s Republic of China in international 

7 standards-setting bodies; and 

8 (7) any other areas the Director, in consulta9 tion with the entity selected to conduct the study, 

10 believes is important to address. 

11 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The agreement entered 

12 into under subsection (a) shall require the entity con13 ducting the study to, not later than 1 year after the date 

14 of the enactment of this Act— 

15 (1) submit to the Committee on Commerce, 

16 Science, and Transportation and the Committee on 

17 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 

18 Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and 

19 Technology and the Committee on Homeland Secu20 rity of the House of Representatives a report con21 taining the findings and recommendations of the re22 view conducted under subsection (a); and 

23 (2) make a copy of such report available on a 

24 publicly accessible website. 

Æ 


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