WASHINGTON, D.C. — Foreign officials who weaponize the government to discriminate against American companies could be denied entry to the United States under new legislation introduced today by Congressman Michael Baumgartner (WA-05), H.R. 9834, the No Racketeers on Our Shores Act.

“American companies should compete abroad on the strength of their products—not against foreign bureaucrats determined to tilt the playing field,” said Congressman Baumgartner. “Across the globe, we are seeing a worrying pattern of foreign governments imposing selective investigations, punitive fines, discriminatory taxes, and regulatory obligations that fall overwhelmingly on American-owned businesses,” he said.

The legislation responds to this growing global pattern uncovered by the House Judiciary Committee: foreign governments using coercive state powers to target successful American-owned companies while protecting favored domestic competitors. In Europe, regulators have now fined Google more than $1 billion under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) for how it presents its own services in search results and operates its Play Store. This is part of a regulatory regime backed by fines of up to 10 percent of worldwide annual revenue and up to 20 percent for repeat violations. In South Korea, authorities subjected American-owned Coupang to dozens of investigations, thousands of document demands, and a record-setting fine. In Brazil, officials have advanced DMA-style legislation that would impose special restrictions on overwhelmingly large U.S.-headquartered technology platforms. 

“Congressional oversight, diplomatic directives, and bilateral engagement remain important tools, but they are often insufficient. At the other end of the spectrum, a formal investigation or renegotiation of trade agreements by the Office of the United States Trade Representative is a major action with broad economic and diplomatic consequences,” Baumgartner continued. “This bill creates a targeted new rung on the escalatory ladder: foreign officials who personally use government power to discriminate against Americans should not expect the privilege of traveling to or remaining in the United States,” he said. 

What the bill does:  

• Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to make foreign government officials who engage in economic discrimination against U.S. persons inadmissible to, and deportable from, the United States;
• Targets discriminatory government conduct, but it does not penalize legitimate, evenhanded regulation; and 
• Creates a targeted diplomatic consequence for individual decisionmakers.  

Read the full bill text here. A factsheet is available here.