Key Considerations ^ The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS or the Committee) is an interagency committee that has broad powers to review foreign investments in and acquisitions of U.S. businesses as well as certain real estate transactions to determine the potential impact on U.S. national security. ^ The Committee has a heightened focus on transactions involving U.S. businesses that implicate critical technology, critical infrastructure or sensitive personal data, as well as sensitive real estate, cybersecurity risk, government touchpoints, supply-chain dependencies and foreign-adversary nexus. ^ Investors should conduct diligence early to understand national security touchpoints across the investor, target, ownership chain, governance rights, customer base, technology, data, supply chain and real estate footprint. A sophisticated CFIUS strategy that accounts for an investor’s objectives and anticipates and mitigates potential U.S. national security risks increases the likelihood that transaction parties will achieve closing on their preferred timing, and without unanticipated national security-related challenges. ^ In February 2025, the Trump administration released the America First Investment Policy (AFIP), a national security policy memorandum addressing both inbound and outbound investment. The AFIP reaffirms support for investment from allied and partner countries while directing a more restrictive posture toward investments involving China and other “foreign adversaries.” In particular, the AFIP directs the U.S. government to use CFIUS and other legal authorities to restrict certain PRC-affiliated investments in strategic sectors, while also calling for more efficient review of qualifying investments from trusted investors that can demonstrate verifiable independence from foreign adversary actors. Treasury has begun developing the Known Investor Program (KIP) as a process-efficiency initiative for certain foreign investors; following an initial pilot, Treasury published a formal Request for Information on February 9, 2026 seeking public comment on KIP design and eligibility criteria, with comments due March 18, 2026. The program’s final contours remain subject to development and should not be described as changing CFIUS jurisdiction or statutory review periods unless and until Treasury adopts final implementing procedures. ^ Additionally, new regulations prohibiting or requiring notification to the U.S. government of certain outbound investments by U.S. persons, and imposing obligations with respect to certain controlled foreign entities, took effect on January 2, 2025. These regulations, referred to here as the Outbound Investment Regulations or OIR, currently focus on certain transactions involving covered foreign persons linked to China, Hong Kong or Macau in specified categories of semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies, and artificial intelligence. In December 2025, Congress passed the Comprehensive Outbound Investment National Security Act (COINS Act), codifying the outbound investment regime and directing Treasury to issue implementing regulations that would expand the Outbound Investment Security Program (OISP). Until Treasury issues those implementing regulations, the current OIR remain in effect.
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