Sponsors
The bill strengthens protections for Americans and U.S. sovereign actions against politically motivated foreign judgments—especially from the PRC—by giving federal courts and the executive clearer tools to refuse enforcement, but it increases litigation, federal caseloads, and risks of diplomatic retaliation and reduced cross-border enforceability that could raise costs for U.S. businesses and taxpayers.
Millions of U.S. individuals, businesses, and federal employees are protected from being forced to comply with or pay foreign (especially PRC) judgments that are politically motivated or punish protected speech or lawful official acts.
U.S. courts gain clearer legal standards and a federal forum (removal and a totality-of-the-circumstances test), increasing predictability for litigants about when foreign judgments will be refused and how cases will be heard.
The law helps protect U.S. diplomatic and national-security interests by discouraging foreign governments from using courts as instruments of political retaliation and by preserving sovereign functions from foreign-judgment interference.
U.S. companies, creditors, and exporters may find it harder and costlier to collect legitimately obtained foreign judgments, reducing cross-border enforceability and raising commercial risk for businesses operating with or in China.
The law could strain U.S.–China diplomatic and trade relations and invite retaliatory measures by foreign courts or governments, with economic and national-security consequences for American firms and travelers.
Expect increased federal and state court workloads and complex foreign-law litigation that raise taxpayer-funded costs and risk delays in other federal matters as more foreign-enforcement disputes are heard or removed to federal court.
Based on analysis of 10 sections of legislative text.
Introduced December 18, 2025 by Eric Stephen Schmitt · Last progress December 18, 2025
Prohibits U.S. courts from recognizing or enforcing judgments, orders, decrees, or provisional measures issued by courts of the People’s Republic of China when the foreign proceeding was politically controlled by the Chinese state or motivated by retaliation for protected speech or lawful U.S. government action. It sets a totality-of-the-circumstances evidentiary standard for courts to determine when a Chinese proceeding is tainted by state control or political motive. Creates new litigation tools and procedures: mandatory fee-shifting in favor of parties who successfully oppose enforcement, exclusive federal jurisdiction (and removal from state courts) over enforcement actions, a statutory private right to seek declaratory and injunctive relief for those harmed or exposed to such foreign proceedings, and a statutory role for the U.S. Attorney General to intervene and provide a statement of interest that courts must give substantial weight. The Act also clarifies that it does not compel U.S. courts to recognize any foreign judgment and preserves other legal grounds to refuse enforcement.