I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2546 

To provide for the development and implementation of economic defense 

response teams. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 10, 2023 

Mr. CASE (for himself and Mrs. KIM of California) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide for the development and implementation of 

economic defense response teams. 

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

3 SECTION 1. ECONOMIC DEFENSE RESPONSE TEAMS. 

4 (a) PILOT PROGRAM.—Not later than 180 days after 

5 the date of the enactment of this Act, the President, act6 ing through the Secretary of State, shall develop and im7 plement a pilot program for the creation of deployable eco8 nomic defense response teams to help provide emergency 

9 technical assistance and support to a country subjected 

10 to the threat or use of coercive economic measures and 


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1 to play a liaison role between the legitimate government 

2 of that country and the United States Government. Such 

3 assistance and support may include the following activi4 ties: 

5 (1) Reducing the partner country’s vulnerability 

6 to coercive economic measures. 

7 (2) Minimizing the damage that such measures 

8 by an adversary could cause to that country. 

9 (3) Implementing any bilateral or multilateral 

10 contingency plans that may exist for responding to 

11 the threat or use of such measures. 

12 (4) In coordination with the partner country, 

13 developing or improving plans and strategies by the 

14 country for reducing vulnerabilities and improving 

15 responses to such measures in the future. 

16 (5) Assisting the partner country in dealing 

17 with foreign sovereign investment in infrastructure 

18 or related projects that may undermine the partner 

19 country’s sovereignty. 

20 (6) Assisting the partner country in responding 

21 to specific efforts from an adversary attempting to 

22 employ economic coercion that undermines the part23 ner country’s sovereignty, including efforts in the 

24 cyber domain, such as efforts that undermine cyber25 security or digital security of the partner country or 


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1 initiatives that introduce digital technologies in a 

2 manner that undermines freedom, security, and sov3 ereignty of the partner country. 

4 (7) Otherwise providing direct and relevant 

5 short-to-medium term economic or other assistance 

6 from the United States and marshalling other re7 sources in support of effective responses to such 

8 measures. 

9 (b) INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT.—The pilot program 

10 required by subsection (a) should include the following ele11 ments: 

12 (1) Identification and designation of relevant 

13 personnel within the United States Government with 

14 expertise relevant to the objectives specified in sub15 section (a), including personnel in— 

16 (A) the Department of State, for over17 seeing the economic defense response team’s ac18 tivities, engaging with the partner country gov19 ernment and other stakeholders, and other pur20 poses relevant to advancing the success of the 

21 mission of the economic defense response team; 

22 (B) the United States Agency for Inter23 national Development, for the purposes of pro24 viding technical, humanitarian, and other as25 sistance, generally; 


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1 (C) the Department of the Treasury, for 

2 the purposes of providing advisory support and 

3 assistance on all financial matters and fiscal 

4 implications of the crisis at hand; 

5 (D) the Department of Commerce, for the 

6 purposes of providing economic analysis and as7 sistance in market development relevant to the 

8 partner country’s response to the crisis at hand, 

9 technology security as appropriate, and other 

10 matters that may be relevant; 

11 (E) the Department of Energy, for the 

12 purposes of providing advisory services and 

13 technical assistance with respect to energy 

14 needs as affected by the crisis at hand; 

15 (F) the Department of Homeland Security, 

16 for the purposes of providing assistance with re17 spect to digital and cybersecurity matters, and 

18 assisting in the development of any contingency 

19 plans referred to in paragraphs (3) and (6) of 

20 subsection (a) as appropriate; 

21 (G) the Department of Agriculture, for 

22 providing advisory and other assistance with re23 spect to responding to coercive measures such 

24 as arbitrary market closures that affect the 

25 partner country’s agricultural sector; 


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1 (H) the Office of the United States Trade 

2 Representative with respect to providing sup3 port and guidance on trade and investment 

4 matters; and 

5 (I) other Federal departments and agen6 cies as determined by the President. 

7 (2) Negotiation of memoranda of under8 standing, where appropriate, with other United 

9 States Government components for the provision of 

10 any relevant participating or detailed non-Depart11 ment of State personnel identified under paragraph 

12 (1). 

13 (3) Negotiation of contracts, as appropriate, 

14 with private sector representatives or other individ15 uals with relevant expertise to advance the objectives 

16 specified in subsection (a). 

17 (4) Development within the United States Gov18 ernment of— 

19 (A) appropriate training curricula for rel20 evant experts identified under paragraph (1) 

21 and for United States diplomatic personnel in a 

22 country actually or potentially threatened by co23 ercive economic measures; 

24 (B) operational procedures and appropriate 

25 protocols for the rapid assembly of such experts 


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1 into one or more teams for deployment to a 

2 country actually or potentially threatened by co3 ercive economic measures; and 

4 (C) procedures for ensuring appropriate 

5 support for such teams when serving in a coun6 try actually or potentially threatened by coer7 cive economic measures, including, as applica8 ble, logistical assistance, office space, informa9 tion support, and communications. 

10 (5) Negotiation with relevant potential host 

11 countries of procedures and methods for ensuring 

12 the rapid and effective deployment of such teams, 

13 and the establishment of appropriate liaison relation14 ships with local public and private sector officials 

15 and entities. 

16 (c) REPORTS REQUIRED.— 

17 (1) REPORT ON ESTABLISHMENT.—Upon estab18 lishment of the pilot program required by subsection 

19 (a), the Secretary of State shall provide the Com20 mittee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the 

21 Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Rep22 resentatives with a detailed report and briefing de23 scribing the pilot program, the major elements of the 

24 program, the personnel and institutions involved, 


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1 and the degree to which the program incorporates 

2 the elements described in subsection (a). 

3 (2) FOLLOW-UP REPORT.—Not later than one 

4 year after the report required by paragraph (1), the 

5 Secretary of State shall provide the Committee on 

6 Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee 

7 on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 

8 with a detailed report and briefing describing the op9 erations over the previous year of the pilot program 

10 established pursuant to subsection (a), as well as the 

11 Secretary’s assessment of its performance and suit12 ability for becoming a permanent program. 

13 (3) FORM.—Each report required under this 

14 subsection shall be submitted in unclassified form, 

15 but may include a classified annex. 

16 (d) DECLARATION OF AN ECONOMIC CRISIS RE17 QUIRED.— 

18 (1) NOTIFICATION.—The President may acti19 vate an economic defense response team for a period 

20 of 180 days under the authorities of this section to 

21 assist a partner country in responding to an unusual 

22 and extraordinary economic coercive threat by an 

23 adversary of the United States upon the declaration 

24 of a coercive economic emergency, together with no25 tification to the Committee on Foreign Relations of 


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1 the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

2 the House of Representatives. 

3 (2) EXTENSION AUTHORITY.—The President 

4 may activate the response team for an additional 

5 180 days upon the submission of a detailed analysis 

6 to the committees described in paragraph (1) justi7 fying why the continued deployment of the economic 

8 defense response team in response to the economic 

9 emergency is in the national security interest of the 

10 United States. 

11 (e) SUNSET.—The authorities provided under this 

12 section shall expire on December 31, 2026. 

Æ 


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