Title: Protecting American Business from Foreign Adversaries Act of 2022
Policy area: Law

Summary:
Protecting American Business from Foreign Adversaries Act of 2022
This bill requires specified companies and other entities associated with a foreign country to register an agent with the Department of Commerce for service of process (i.e., the legal process for notifying a defendant that legal action has been taken against them) in the United States.
Specifically, a corporation or other commercial entity conducting business in the United States must register an agent if the entity (1) is organized under the laws of, or has its principal place of business in, a foreign country; (2) has a majority of shares held by an individual or a group of individuals who reside in a foreign country; or (3) is owned by individuals or entities who reside in or are headquartered outside of the United States and the majority of the entity's earnings are derived from commerce outside of the United States.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6775 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6775

   To amend chapter 190 of title 28, United States Code, to require 
 businesses with a principal place of business in a foreign country to 
register an agent for the service of process in the United States, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 18, 2022

  Mr. Hill (for himself and Mr. Cohen) introduced the following bill; 
          which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend chapter 190 of title 28, United States Code, to require 
 businesses with a principal place of business in a foreign country to 
register an agent for the service of process in the United States, and 
                          for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting American Business from 
Foreign Adversaries Act of 2022''.

SEC. 2. REGISTRATION OF AGENT.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 190 of title 28, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 5002. Registration of an agent for the service of process on 
              covered entities
    ``(a) In General.--A covered entity conducting business in the 
United States shall register with the Department of Commerce not less 
than one agent residing in the United States if the covered entity--
            ``(1) is organized under the laws of, or has its principal 
        place of business in, a foreign country;
            ``(2) is traded in shares and such shares are held in 
        majority by any individual or group of individuals who reside 
        in a foreign country; or
            ``(3) is owned by individuals or other entities who reside 
        or are headquartered outside of the United States and the 
        majority of business earnings of the covered entity are derived 
        from commerce outside of the United States.
    ``(b) Filing.--A registration required under subsection (a) shall 
be filed with the Department of Commerce not later than 30 days after--
            ``(1) the date of enactment of this Act; or
            ``(2) the departure of the previously registered agent from 
        employment or contract with the covered entity.
    ``(c) Purpose of Registered Agent.--
            ``(1) Availability.--A covered entity shall ensure that not 
        less than one registered agent on whom process may be served is 
        available at the business address of the registered agent each 
        day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the time zone of the business 
        address, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and Federal holidays.
            ``(2) Communication.--The registered agent shall be 
        required to be available to accept service of process on behalf 
        of the covered entity under which the agent is registered by 
        the means of any communication included in the registration 
        submitted to the Department of Commerce.
    ``(d) Cooperation.--A registered agent shall cooperate in good 
faith with the United States Government and representatives of other 
individuals and entities.
    ``(e) Required Information.--The registration submitted to the 
Department of Commerce shall include the following information:
            ``(1) The name of the covered entity registering an agent 
        under this section.
            ``(2) The name of the Chief Executive Officer, President, 
        Partner, Chairman, or other controlling individual of the 
        covered entity.
            ``(3) The name of the individual who is being registered as 
        the agent for the service of process.
            ``(4) The business address of the covered entity 
        registering an agent under this section.
            ``(5) The business address of the individual who is being 
        registered as the agent for the service of process.
            ``(6) Contact information, including an email address and 
        phone number for the individual who is being registered as the 
        agent for the service of process.
            ``(7) The date on which the agent shall begin to accept 
        service of process under this section.
    ``(f) Website.--The information submitted to the Department of 
Commerce pursuant to this section shall be made available on a publicly 
accessible database on the website of the Department of Commerce.
    ``(g) Personal Jurisdiction.--A covered entity that registers an 
agent under this section thereby consents to the personal jurisdiction 
of the State or Federal courts of the State in which the registered 
agent is located for the purpose of any regulatory proceeding or civil 
action relating to such covered entity.
    ``(h) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Covered entity.--The term `covered entity' means--
                    ``(A) a corporation, partnership, association, 
                organization, or other combination of persons 
                established for the purpose of commercial activities; 
                or
                    ``(B) a trust or a fund established for the purpose 
                of commercial activities.
            ``(2) Department of commerce.--The term `Department of 
        Commerce' means the United States Department of Commerce.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 190 of 
title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

``5002. Registration of an agent for the service of process on covered 
                            entities.''.
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