Finally, CIFIUS

At last something the Republicans and Democrats can agree on - The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S needs to be strengthened, mostly to get caught up on all the things China has been buying.  [see  Greater Scrutiny Urged of Chinese Deals in U.S.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/lawmakers-push-for-tighter-scrutiny-of-chinese-investment-in-u-s-1487678403 ]. 

China has more than a little investment in the United States and last years total was a big number - $46B.  CIFIUS is around to try to keep ahead of those purchases in areas that affect national security.  In my first book, I went into some detail about the kinds of things CIFIUS blocked in the telecommunications industry.  But, what I also pointed out was the lag between Chinese investment and CIFIUS getting a case to look at.  In most cases, CIFIUS is too slow to stop the transfer of technology which has already taken place before the case gets to them.  Asking for reporting by companies to be done sooner is a start, but there needs to be more research done to determine where the Chinese have staked out industries they want to buy, and the steps they have taken to get the pieces in place to do that.  

These are not random purchases.  When the U.S blocked the purchase of Axitron a German company selling chip manufacturing technology, it was a glimpse into where the Chinese were going.  They were gobbling up companies in a certain type of chip manufacturing that was sensitive to our defense sector.  That was a national security issue, even though it was not a U.S company.

Some of the proposals for new CIFIUS capabilities might include areas of purchase that have no direct relationship to National Security, something we should consider carefully.  The reasoning goes that China has restricted purchases of their technologies, so we should restrict theirs.  There is some wisdom to that, but the Chinese have also made mandatory management requirements for some kinds of businesses that are purchased in China.  Media restrictions, any role in teaching students or the military are a major items in China. We should be looking at reciprocity for those in the U.S.  And while we are at it, look at the EB-5 visa program that allows Chinese businessmen to buy U.S. Citizenship so they can make these purchases without being foreign investors.