Chinese companies and organizations that are caught engaged in intellectual theft of American companies could face heavy sanctions, according to a new bill being introduced by Sen. John Curtis on Thursday.

Under the Combatting China’s Pilfering of Intellectual Property Act, the U.S. government would be permitted to block assets or restrict immigration of any Chinese individual who is found in violation as part of efforts to increase economic pressure on the Chinese Communist Party to discourage “systematic misappropriation of protected American technologies.”

“Utah is a major hub of entrepreneurship and innovation, and too many of our businesses have seen their intellectual property stolen by Chinese entities — frequently resulting in copycat products sold on sites like Temu,” Curtis, R-Utah, said in a statement. “This legislation directly punishes Chinese individuals, companies, and organizations who steal American IP and puts pressure on the CCP to stop its widespread trend of IP theft and replicating U.S. technologies.”

The theft of counterfeit goods, pirated software and trade secrets costs the U.S. economy roughly between $225 billion to $600 billion a year, according to the FBI. The same study found that China is the “world’s principal infringer of intellectual property” by using its own laws and regulations to put foreign companies at a disadvantage.

Former FBI Director Chris Wray said in 2020 that the agency was “opening a new China-related counterintelligence case about every 10 hours.” During his same remarks at the Hudson Institute, he said economic espionage cases linked to China had increased by around 1,300% over the previous decade.

On Wednesday, OpenAI said it was looking into whether China-based artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek used its data, according to the BBC.

Curtis’ bill would seek to impose penalties on any “person or entity determined to have engaged in a pattern of significant IP theft” or has “received stolen U.S. IP knowingly,” according to bill text examined by the Deseret News.

The bill would also enforce broad visa and immigration restrictions on Chinese government officials until they take “meaningful steps” to stop the practice of intellectual property theft. Those restrictions would extend to senior government officials and their immediate family members, Chinese Cabinet members, and active duty officers in the People’s Liberation Army.

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Curtis mentioned the bill during his opening remarks in a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Thursday, during which lawmakers heard from policy experts about the “malign influence” of the Chinese government.

“This week I introduced a bill that intends to put increasing pressure on China with the goal of forcing them to address IP theft coming from their country,” Curtis said in his remarks. “This is one of the main issues I hear from constituents in my state when it comes to China. From small businesses to universities, IP theft from China is costing the U.S. and estimated $600 billion a year.”

He also addressed reports on China’s AI model at a Committee on Commerce, Science and Technology confirmation hearing for Howard Lutnick, Trump’s pick to lead the Commerce Department, on Wednesday. Summarizing his remarks in a social media post, he said, “Let’s be honest—this is TikTok on steroids. The CCP’s influence in America’s digital space is growing, and until there’s real accountability, we won’t have a fair or productive relationship with China."

Curtis previously introduced similar legislation last year when he served in the House, although the bill was not brought to the floor for a full vote.

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