US President Donald Trump signed a memorandum last Friday directing the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to impose investment restrictions on “foreign adversaries”, including China, Hong Kong and Macau.
The memorandum, titled “America First Investment Policy” explicitly states that “foreign adversaries” include not only the People’s Republic of China, but also the Hong Kong and Macau special administrative regions, plus Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia and Venezuela.
In the memo, Trump emphasized that economic security is directly related to national security, and noted that China’s investments in US technology, agriculture and other strategic areas could threaten US interests.
Trump’s memo mentioned that China is using US capital to develop its military and intelligence organizations, which poses a potential risk to US domestic security and the global military force.
The CFIUS was ordered to use legal tools to limit investments in the US by individuals or companies associated with China, particularly in US technology, critical infrastructure, health care, agriculture, energy, raw materials and other strategic areas.
The US will adopt new rules to prevent US companies and investors from investing in industries that advance China’s National Civil-Military Integration Strategy, and will consider imposing restrictions on various types of investments, including private equity, venture capital, greenfield investments, corporate expansion and investments in publicly traded securities.
The Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China also responded, saying that the US approach is discriminatory and atypical of the market, and that it seriously affects normal economic and trade cooperation between enterprises of the two countries.
“China will keep a close watch on the US side and take necessary measures to defend its legitimate rights and interests,” the Ministry said.
The inclusion of Macau as a “foreign adversary” is notable given that three of the SAR’s six concessionaires – Sands China, Wynn Macau Ltd and MGM China – are US-based entities and part of an industry that generates more than 80% of Macau’s annual budget.
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