Since returning to office in 2025, Republicans have prioritized countering the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) through legislative, economic, military, and law enforcement initiatives. A key step in these efforts came in February 2025, when Senator Rick Scott introduced the Protect America’s Innovation and Economic Security from CCP Act to reinstate and codify President Trump’s CCP Initiative within the Department of Justice’s National Security Division.
The bill targets CCP-linked trade secret theft, economic espionage, and cyberattacks while strengthening enforcement of foreign investment regulations and improving coordination between the DOJ, FBI, and other federal agencies. It also ensures independent, well-funded operations dedicated to addressing CCP-related threats to U.S. technology, infrastructure, and supply chains.
Senator Scott called the CCP one of the greatest threats to America’s national security, criticizing President Biden for ending Trump’s original China Initiative, which had uncovered dozens of espionage cases. He said the revived program would help President Trump confront Beijing’s economic and technological aggression and “Make America Safe Again.”
Representative Lance Gooden, co-sponsoring the bill in the House, added that China has long stolen from U.S. businesses, infiltrated institutions, and undermined the economy, stressing that the legislation sends a clear message that the United States will no longer tolerate the CCP’s sabotage of American interests.
President Trump has taken a series of trade and economic actions to counter the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and protect U.S. national security. He imposed a range of tariffs from 10 to 125 percent on all Chinese imports, citing Beijing’s unfair trade practices and the CCP’s failure to curb the flow of fentanyl precursor chemicals to criminal cartels. To further combat the opioid epidemic, President Trump signed an executive order eliminating duty-free treatment for low-value imports from China, closing the de minimis loophole that had been the lifeblood of Chinese e-commerce companies.
In parallel, the administration expanded U.S. export controls to restrict CCP-backed subsidiaries, applying sanctions to any entity at least 50 percent owned by companies already on the Commerce Department’s Entity List.
Hellbound and Down 