PROTECT USA Act of 2025

This bill would bar key U.S. companies from following sustainability “due diligence” rules made by other countries, such as the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. The goal, according to the bill’s findings, is to protect U.S. jobs, supply chains, and the economy—especially in manufacturing and resource-based industries—when foreign rules differ from U.S. policy and could burden essential companies. Companies could still follow U.S. laws and carry on normal business activities. If a company faces special hardship, it could ask the President for a waiver, with a written decision due in 30 days that weighs effects on essential product supply chains, local jobs, broader U.S. impacts, and divesting from foreign businesses tied to those rules .

The bill also shields these companies from being punished for not following those foreign rules. U.S. courts would not recognize foreign judgments based on those rules. The President must take actions in the public interest to protect affected companies. Companies could sue if someone violates these protections. Violators could face civil penalties up to $1,000,000 and possibly be blocked from federal contracts for up to three years.

Key points

• Who is affected: Companies considered integral to U.S. national interests, with findings highlighting manufacturing and extractive industries as vital to jobs and the economy.
• What changes: These companies would be prohibited from complying with foreign sustainability due diligence rules, with exceptions for U.S. law and ordinary business; a hardship waiver process is available; protections against retaliation and foreign court judgments; enforcement includes presidential actions, a right to sue, and penalties for violators .