CURRENT RESEARCH

CIP and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS)

Maeve Dion. Program Manager. Email.
May 2008.

SUMMARY

In November 2007, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development asked the CIP Program to draft a whitepaper for its Roundtable on Freedom of Investment, National Security and ‘Strategic’ Industries. The roundtable was held in Paris, France, on December 13, 2007. The original work was not available for public distribution. However, a public version of our jointly-authore OECD whitepaper is available here. Additional related material can be found on the OECD's website in the section on preventing investment protectionism.

A summary of the key issues and an overview of the Foreign Investment and National Security Act of 2007 was published in the January 2008 edition of The CIP Report.

The CIP Program has been involved in CFIUS concerns since spring of 2004, when we held a conference on Foreign Direct Investment in U.S. Critical Infrastructure, co-sponsored by Covington & Burling. The CFIUS review process remains a subject of interest in both the private and public sectors. Our Law & Economics staff is pleased to provide a summary of the issues , a monograph (PDF) presenting various viewpoints, and a brief review of the Dubai Ports World purchase of P&O Steam Navigation Company.

The monograph (PDF) features articles by leading thinkers representing diverse points of view on CFIUS and its role in protecting critical infrastructure. Authors include Rep. Donald Manzullo (R-IL); David Marchick, Esq., Mark Plotkin, Esq. and David Fagan, Esq. of Covington & Burling; Commissioner Patrick Mulloy of the U.S-China Economic and Security Review Commission; Kristen Verderame, Esq., Chief Counsel BT Americas Inc. and Chair of the British-American Business Council; and Todd Malan, Executive Director of the Organization for International Investment.

The monograph was highlighted in the Department of Homeland Security Daily Open Source Infrastructure Report for 21 February 2006 under the Defense Industrial Base Sector.

David Marchick was interviewed by Kai Ryssdal on Marketplace (Feb. 22, 2006), regarding CFIUS and the recent discussions relating to Dubai Ports World's acquisition of Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co.