Given its existing limitations, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States is ready for its next evolution—not a tweaking around the edges of an existing process that continues to perpetuate limitations to the flexibility and certainty essential to managing a range of interests, but a foundational shift from a “committee” to a statutorily established “commission” comparable to others operating at the federal level, such as the Federal Communications Commission, International Trade Commission, and US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Since it was conceived almost 50 years ago, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS or the Committee), has passed several important milestones. What began as an ad hoc body tasked with monitoring the impact of foreign investment in the United States and coordinating the implementation of US policy on such investment, developed into a substantial apparatus, established by statute and managed by the US Department of Treasury. From its inception in 1975, Congress amended the underlying CFIUS statute in 1988, 1993, 2007, and 2018, primarily to address geopolitical circumstances and to enhance the Committee’s authority and reach. In each instance, the Executive branch and Congress reacted to perceived threats to US interests. Today, the Committee functions under the most recent legislation, the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018, a statute that enhanced various CFIUS authorities, expanded some jurisdiction, and established more granular factors to consider when evaluating the national security implications of cross-border investments.