I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8846 

To authorize the imposition of sanctions on certain persons engaged in a 

pattern of significant theft of United States intellectual property, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 3, 2020 

Mr. CHABOT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 

case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 

the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To authorize the imposition of sanctions on certain persons 

engaged in a pattern of significant theft of United States 

intellectual property, 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 ‘‘Accountability for Per5 sistent Intellectual Property Theft Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall impose the 

8 sanctions described in subsection (b) with respect to each 


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1 person described in subsection (c) the President deter2 mines, on or after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

3 is knowingly engaging in a pattern of significant theft of 

4 the intellectual property of United States persons. 

5 (b) SANCTIONS IMPOSED.—The sanctions described 

6 in this subsection are the following: 

7 (1) ASSET BLOCKING.—The exercise of all pow8 ers granted to the President by the International 

9 Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 

10 et seq.) to the extent necessary to block and prohibit 

11 all transactions in all property and interests in prop12 erty of a person described in subsection (a) if such 

13 property and interests in property are in the United 

14 States, come within the United States, or are or 

15 come within the possession or control of a United 

16 States person. 

17 (2) ALIENS INELIGIBLE FOR VISAS, ADMISSION, 

18 OR PAROLE.— 

19 (A) VISAS, ADMISSION, OR PAROLE.—An 

20 alien described in subsection (a) is— 

21 (i) inadmissible to the United States; 

22 (ii) ineligible to receive a visa or other 

23 documentation to enter the United States; 

24 and 


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1 (iii) otherwise ineligible to be admitted 

2 or paroled into the United States or to re3 ceive any other benefit under the Immigra4 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et 

5 seq.). 

6 (B) CURRENT VISAS REVOKED.— 

7 (i) IN GENERAL.—The issuing con8 sular officer, the Secretary of State, or the 

9 Secretary of Homeland Security (or a des10 ignee of one of such Secretaries) shall, in 

11 accordance with section 221(i) of the Im12 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

13 1201(i)), revoke any visa or other entry 

14 documentation issued to an alien who the 

15 Secretary of State or the Secretary of 

16 Homeland Security (or a designee of one of 

17 such Secretaries) determines is described 

18 in subsection (a), regardless of when the 

19 visa or other documentation is issued. 

20 (ii) EFFECT OF REVOCATION.—A rev21 ocation under clause (i) shall take effect 

22 immediately and shall automatically cancel 

23 any other valid visa or entry documenta24 tion that is in the alien’s possession. 


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1 (3) EXCEPTION TO COMPLY WITH UNITED NA2 TIONS HEADQUARTERS AGREEMENT.—The authority 

3 to impose the sanctions described in paragraph 

4 (2)(B) shall not apply to an alien if admitting the 

5 alien into the United States is necessary to permit 

6 the United States to comply with the Agreement re7 garding the Headquarters of the United Nations, 

8 signed at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered 

9 into force November 21, 1947, between the United 

10 Nations and the United States, or other applicable 

11 international obligations. 

12 (c) PERSONS DESCRIBED.—A person described in 

13 this section is one of the following: 

14 (1) An individual who— 

15 (A) is a national of the People’s Republic 

16 of China or acting at the direction of a national 

17 or entity of the People’s Republic of China; and 

18 (B) is not a United States person. 

19 (2) An entity that is— 

20 (A) organized under the laws of the Peo21 ple’s Republic of China or of any jurisdiction 

22 within the People’s Republic of China; 

23 (B) owned or controlled by individuals who 

24 are nationals of the People’s Republic of China; 

25 or 


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1 (C) owned or controlled by an entity de2 scribed in subparagraph (A) and is not a 

3 United States person. 

4 (d) PENALTIES; IMPLEMENTATION.— 

5 (1) PENALTIES.—A person that violates, at6 tempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a 

7 violation of subsection (a) or any regulation, license, 

8 or order issued to carry out subsection (a) shall be 

9 subject to the penalties set forth in subsections (b) 

10 and (c) of section 206 of the International Emer11 gency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the 

12 same extent as a person that commits an unlawful 

13 act described in subsection (a) of that section. 

14 (2) IMPLEMENTATION.—The President may ex15 ercise all authorities provided to the President under 

16 sections 203 and 205 of the International Emer17 gency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 

18 1704) for purposes of carrying out this section. 

19 (e) REPORT REQUIRED.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

21 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

22 President shall submit to the Committee on Foreign 

23 Affairs of the House of Representatives and the 

24 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a re25 port that specifies each person the President deterVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:58 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8846.IH H8846

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1 mines meets the criteria described in subsection (a) 

2 for the imposition of sanctions. 

3 (2) TERMINATION OF SANCTIONS.—The Presi4 dent may terminate sanctions imposed under sub5 section (a) with respect to a person if the President 

6 certifies to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

7 House of Representatives and the Committee on 

8 Foreign Relations of the Senate that such person is 

9 no longer engaging in efforts to steal United States 

10 intellectual property. 

11 (f) WAIVER.—The President may waive the imposi12 tion of sanctions under subsection (a) on a case-by-case 

13 basis with respect to a person if the President— 

14 (1) certifies to the Committee on Foreign Af15 fairs and the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

16 House of Representatives and the Committee on 

17 Foreign Relations and the Committee on the Judici18 ary of the Senate that such waiver is in the national 

19 security interests of the United States; and 

20 (2) includes a justification for such certifi21 cation. 

22 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

23 (1) ADMITTED; ALIEN.—The terms ‘‘admitted’’ 

24 and ‘‘alien’’ have the meanings given those terms in 


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1 section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

2 (8 U.S.C. 1101). 

3 (2) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

4 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 

5 (A) an individual who is a United States 

6 citizen or an alien lawfully admitted for perma7 nent residence to the United States; or 

8 (B) an entity organized under the laws of 

9 the United States or of any jurisdiction within 

10 the United States. 

Æ 


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