Nonpartisan civic infrastructure
AllCiv·Legis1
·

H.R. 4577

BillFederalHouseIn Committee
Defending American Property Abroad Act of 2025
About This Bill
Committee
Latest Action · July 21, 2025
Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Congress
119th (2025–2027)
Introduced
July 21, 2025
Cosponsors (39)
7D 32R
View PDF ↗

Summary

Highlight any text to annotate
This bill protects American property rights when foreign governments seize or expropriate assets owned by U.S. citizens and businesses. Specifically, it targets ports and marine terminals in Western Hemisphere countries with U.S. free trade agreements that have been nationalized or taken from American owners since January 2024. The legislation requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to identify and publicly list all such "prohibited property" within 60 days and then authorizes the President to ban vessels that have used these ports from importing goods into the United States, docking passenger ships, or receiving maintenance services in American ports. Additionally, the bill expands the Trade Act of 1974 to explicitly include expropriation and unfair treatment of American assets as grounds for potential trade sanctions against offending countries. The measure has broad bipartisan support and aims to create economic consequences for foreign governments that seize American property without compensation.

Take Action

Your position
Add a comment
to comment on this bill.
Annotate the text
Highlight any passage on the Summary or Full Text tab to attach a note. Annotations appear on the Annotations tab.