ACI CFIUS Conference 2025: five key takeaways

1. CFIUS turns 50: national security’s ever-expanding scope

This year’s conference emphasised the marked changes that CFIUS has undertaken since its inception under President Ford in 1975. Initially focused on the defense industry, CFIUS has grown into a robust regulatory body that addresses economic security, supply chains, critical infrastructure, and emergent technologies. One of the best recent case studies on how the scope of national security regulation has expanded is the blockage of Nippon Steel’s acquisition of US Steel.

2. Focus on China executive and legislative alignment

The conference was a stark reflection of the harmony between the President and Congress’s objectives. Speakers from both the executive branch and Congress’s Select Committee on the CCP echoed similar sentiments when it came to tightening trade restrictions and regulations regarding China.

3. Ramifications of the “America First Investment Policy” NSPM

The NSPM (National Security Presidential Memorandum) signed by President Trump, was also a key topic. This memorandum has important implications for trade regulation as it reflects a willingness by the administration to integrate economic and national security concerns using its levers of power and tools such as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), export controls and tariffs.

The NSPM encourages foreign direct investment into the US from friendly countries in emergent technologies while simultaneously restricting outbound US investment into China’s emergent technologies.

The NSPM wants to reduce the US’s reliance on China, reward countries that snub Chinese influence with US market access and punish those that do not with tariffs. Of note, was the discussion around how greenfield investments and licensing agreements (e.g., in battery manufacturing to undercut US firms) may be potentially scrutinised via the IEEPA to a greater extent moving forward, as they traditionally do not fall under the scope of the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRRMA). Additionally, the NSPM advocates for expedited environmental reviews to increase the speed and development of major infrastructure with a national security nexus.

4. Continuity of Outbound Investment Policy Across Administrations

The outbound investment policy, also drawing its authority from the IEEPA, was also a central topic of discussion. Initially formalised by a 2023 Biden Administration Executive Order that went into effect earlier this year, the Trump Administration is continuing the policy. Unlike CFIUS, the policy is a notification-based system that requires a “US Person(s)” to report investments in emerging technologies (such as AI, quantum computing, and semiconductors) involving foreign adversaries, particularly China.

5. Pay Attention to Export Controls

The Trump administration has made it clear that it intends to use export controls to protect national security and prevent foreign adversaries from gaining access to “critical technologies.” FIRRMA and the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA) have crystallised the interaction and complementary nature of CFIUS and export controls and aided in defining what “critical technologies” really are (such as United States Lime & Minerals (USLM), items on the Commerce Control List (CCL), nuclear equipment, select agents and toxins).

It is critical that small- to medium-sized organisations without a mature export control matrix start the process of classifying their products. The NSPM made it clear that export controls will be refined to increase their effectiveness. In the future, it is possible to see export controls on products such data sets and AI models.