II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2062 

To increase the security of United States rail infrastructure along the North 

American Interchange Service to the direct and indirect supply of U.S. 

military and related institutions, to facilitate cross-border trade among 

the United States, Mexico, or Canada, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 15, 2021 

Mr. CORNYN (for himself and Ms. BALDWIN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To increase the security of United States rail infrastructure 

along the North American Interchange Service to the 

direct and indirect supply of U.S. military and related 

institutions, to facilitate cross-border trade among the 

United States, Mexico, or Canada, 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 TITLES. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stopping America’s 

5 Foreign Enemies Through Rail And Infrastructure Na6 tional Security Act’’ or the ‘‘SAFE TRAINS Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR RAILROAD FREIGHT CARS EN2 TERING SERVICE IN THE UNITED STATES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 207 of title 49, United 

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘§ 20704. Requirements for railroad freight cars en7 tering service in the United States 

8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 ‘‘(1) COMPONENT.—The term ‘component’ 

10 means a part or subassembly of a railroad freight 

11 car. 

12 ‘‘(2) CONTROL.—The term ‘control’ means the 

13 power, whether direct or indirect and whether or not 

14 exercised, through the ownership of a majority or a 

15 dominant minority of the total outstanding voting 

16 interest in an entity, representation on the board of 

17 directors of an entity, proxy voting on the board of 

18 directors of an entity, a special share in the entity, 

19 a contractual arrangement with the entity, a formal 

20 or informal arrangement to act in concert with an 

21 entity, or any other means, to determine, direct, 

22 make decisions, or cause decisions to be made for 

23 the entity. 

24 ‘‘(3) COST OF SENSITIVE TECHNOLOGY.—The 

25 term ‘cost of sensitive technology’ means the aggreVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2062.IS S2062

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1 gate cost of the sensitive technology located on a 

2 railroad freight car. 

3 ‘‘(4) COUNTRY OF CONCERN.—The term ‘coun4 try of concern’ means a country that— 

5 ‘‘(A) is identified by the Department of 

6 Commerce as a nonmarket economy country (as 

7 defined in section 771(18) of the Tariff Act of 

8 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1677(18))) as of the date of 

9 the enactment of the SAFE TRAINS Act; 

10 ‘‘(B) was identified by the United States 

11 Trade Representative in the most recent report 

12 required under section 182 of the Trade Act of 

13 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2242) as a foreign country in14 cluded on the priority watch list (as defined in 

15 subsection (g)(3) of such section); and 

16 ‘‘(C) is subject to monitoring by the Trade 

17 Representative under section 306 of the Trade 

18 Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2416). 

19 ‘‘(5) NET COST.—The term ‘net cost’ has the 

20 meaning given such term in chapter 4 of the 

21 USMCA or in any subsequent free trade agreement 

22 between the United States, Mexico, and Canada. 

23 ‘‘(6) QUALIFIED FACILITY.—The term ‘quali24 fied facility’ means a facility that is not owned or 

25 under the control of a state-owned enterprise. 


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1 ‘‘(7) QUALIFIED MANUFACTURER.—The term 

2 ‘qualified manufacturer’ means a railroad freight car 

3 manufacturer that is not owned or under the control 

4 of a state-owned enterprise. 

5 ‘‘(8) RAILROAD FREIGHT CAR.—The term ‘rail6 road freight car’ means a car designed to carry 

7 freight or railroad personnel by rail, including— 

8 ‘‘(A) a box car; 

9 ‘‘(B) a refrigerator car; 

10 ‘‘(C) a ventilator car; 

11 ‘‘(D) an intermodal well car; 

12 ‘‘(E) a gondola car; 

13 ‘‘(F) a hopper car; 

14 ‘‘(G) an auto rack car; 

15 ‘‘(H) a flat car; 

16 ‘‘(I) a special car; 

17 ‘‘(J) a caboose car; 

18 ‘‘(K) a tank car; and 

19 ‘‘(L) a yard car. 

20 ‘‘(9) SENSITIVE TECHNOLOGY.—The term ‘sen21 sitive technology’ means any device embedded with 

22 electronics, software, sensors, or other connectivity, 

23 that enables the device to connect to, collect data 

24 from, or exchange data with another device, includ25 ing— 


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1 ‘‘(A) onboard telematics; 

2 ‘‘(B) remote monitoring software; 

3 ‘‘(C) firmware; 

4 ‘‘(D) analytics; 

5 ‘‘(E) GPS satellite and cellular location 

6 tracking systems; 

7 ‘‘(F) event status sensors; 

8 ‘‘(G) predictive component condition and 

9 performance monitoring sensors; and 

10 ‘‘(H) similar sensitive technologies embed11 ded into freight railcar components and sub12 assemblies. 

13 ‘‘(10) STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISE.—The term 

14 ‘state-owned enterprise’ means— 

15 ‘‘(A) an entity that is owned by, or under 

16 the control of, a national, provincial, or local 

17 government of a country of concern, or an 

18 agency of such government; or 

19 ‘‘(B) an individual acting under the direc20 tion or influence of a government or agency de21 scribed in subparagraph (A). 

22 ‘‘(11) SUBSTANTIALLY TRANSFORMED.—The 

23 term ‘substantially transformed’ means a component 

24 of a railroad freight car that undergoes an applica25 ble change in tariff classification as a result of the 


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1 manufacturing process, as described in chapter 4 

2 and related annexes of the USMCA or in any subse3 quent free trade agreement between the United 

4 States, Mexico, and Canada. 

5 ‘‘(12) USMCA.—The term ‘USMCA’ has the 

6 meaning given such term in section 3 of the United 

7 States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation 

8 Act (19 U.S.C. 4502). 

9 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS FOR RAILROAD FREIGHT CARS

10 ENTERING SERVICE IN THE UNITED STATES.— 

11 ‘‘(1) LIMITATION ON RAILROAD FREIGHT

12 CARS.—A railroad freight car wholly manufactured 

13 on or after the date that is 1 year after the date of 

14 the enactment of the SAFE TRAINS Act may only 

15 operate on the United States freight railroad inter16 change system if— 

17 ‘‘(A) the railroad freight car is manufac18 tured, assembled, and substantially trans19 formed, as applicable, by a qualified manufac20 turer in a qualified facility; 

21 ‘‘(B) none of the sensitive technology lo22 cated on the railroad freight car, including com23 ponents necessary to the functionality of the 

24 sensitive technology, originates from a country 


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1 of concern or is sourced from a state-owned en2 terprise; and 

3 ‘‘(C) none of the content of the railroad 

4 freight car, excluding sensitive technology, 

5 originates from a country of concern or is 

6 sourced from a state-owned enterprise that has 

7 been determined by a recognized court or ad8 ministrative agency of competent jurisdiction 

9 and legal authority to have violated or infringed 

10 valid United States intellectual property rights 

11 of another, including such a finding by a Fed12 eral district court under title 35 or the United 

13 States International Trade Commission under 

14 section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 

15 U.S.C. 1337). 

16 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON RAILROAD FREIGHT CAR

17 CONTENT.— 

18 ‘‘(A) PERCENTAGE LIMITATION.—Not 

19 later than 1 year after the date of the enact20 ment of the SAFE TRAINS Act, a railroad 

21 freight car may operate on the United States 

22 freight railroad interchange system only if— 

23 ‘‘(i) not more than 20 percent of the 

24 content of the railroad freight car, cal25 culated by the net cost of all components 


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1 of the car and excluding the cost of sen2 sitive technology, originates from a country 

3 of concern or is sourced from a state4 owned enterprise; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) not later than 2 years after the 

6 date of the enactment of the SAFE 

7 TRAINS Act, the percentage described in 

8 clause (i) is not more than 15 percent. 

9 ‘‘(B) CONFLICT.—The percentages speci10 fied in subparagraph (A) shall apply notwith11 standing any apparent conflict with the provi12 sions of chapter 4 of the USMCA. 

13 ‘‘(c) REGULATIONS AND PENALTIES.— 

14 ‘‘(1) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—Not later than 

15 1 year after the date of the enactment of the SAFE 

16 TRAINS Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall 

17 issue such regulations as are necessary to carry out 

18 this section, including regulations necessary for the 

19 monitoring, enforcement, and sensitive technology 

20 requirements under this section. 

21 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.—To be eligible 

22 to provide a railroad freight car for operation on the 

23 United States freight railroad interchange system, 

24 the manufacturer of such car shall annually certify 


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1 to the Secretary that any railroad freight cars so 

2 provided meets the requirements under this section. 

3 ‘‘(3) COMPLIANCE.— 

4 ‘‘(A) VALID CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.— 

5 At the time a railroad freight car begins oper6 ation on the United States freight railroad 

7 interchange system, the manufacturer of such 

8 railroad freight car shall have valid certification 

9 described in paragraph (2) for the year in 

10 which such car begins operation. 

11 ‘‘(B) REGISTRATION OF NONCOMPLIANT

12 CARS PROHIBITED.—A railroad freight car 

13 manufacturer may not register, or cause to be 

14 registered, a railroad freight car that does not 

15 comply with the requirements under this section 

16 in the Association of American Railroad’s 

17 Umler system. 

18 ‘‘(4) CIVIL PENALTIES.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A railroad freight car 

20 manufacturer that has manufactured a railroad 

21 freight car for operation on the United States 

22 freight railroad interchange system that the 

23 Secretary of Transportation determines, after 

24 written notice and an opportunity for a hearing, 

25 has violated this section is liable to the United 


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1 States Government for a civil penalty of at least 

2 $100,000, but not more than $250,000, for 

3 each such violation for each railroad freight car. 

4 ‘‘(B) PROHIBITION FOR VIOLATIONS.—The 

5 Secretary of Transportation may prohibit a rail6 road freight car manufacturer with respect to 

7 which the Secretary has assessed more than 3 

8 violations under subparagraph (A) from pro9 viding additional railroad freight cars for oper10 ation on the United States freight railroad 

11 interchange system until the Secretary deter12 mines— 

13 ‘‘(i) such manufacturer is in compli14 ance with this section; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) all civil penalties assessed to 

16 such manufacturer pursuant to subpara17 graph (A) have been paid in full.’’. 

18 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The chapter analysis 

19 for chapter 207 of title 49, United States Code, is amend20 ed by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘20704. Requirements for railroad freight cars entering service in the United 

States.’’. 

Æ 


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