Three threats : an analytical framework for the CFIUS process / Theodore H. Moran.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Moran, Theodore H., 1943-

Series:

Policy analyses in international economics ; 89.

Policy analyses in international economics ; 89

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

Investments, Foreign--United States.

Investments, Foreign.

National security--United States.

National security.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (80 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Washington, DC : Peterson Institute for International Economics, c2009.

Language Note:

English

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Summary:

Under what conditions might a foreign acquisition of a US company constitute a genuine national security threat to the United States? What kinds of risks and threats should analysts and strategists on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), as well as their congressional overseers, be prepared to identify and deal with? This study looks at three types of foreign acquisitions of US companies that may pose a legitimate national security threat. The first is a proposed acquisition that would make the United States dependent on a foreign-controlled supplier of goods or services that are crucial to the functioning of the US economy and that this supplier might delay, deny, or place conditions on the provision of those goods or services. The second is a proposed acquisition that would allow the transfer to a foreign-controlled entity of technology or other expertise that might be deployed in a manner harmful to US national interests. The third potential threat is a proposed acquisition that would provide the capability to infiltrate, conduct surveillance on, or sabotage the provision of goods or services that are crucial to the functioning of the US economy. This study analyzes these threats in detail and considers what criteria are needed for a proposed foreign acquisition to be considered threatening. Ultimately, the vast majority of foreign acquisitions pose no credible threat to national security on these grounds.

Contents:

Cover

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Ch 1: Introduction

Analytical Tools for Evaluating the Three Threats

Coverage of the Three Threats in Language of CFIUS Legislation

Structure of the Analysis

Ch 2: Threat I: Denial of Goods or Services by a Foreign-Controlled Supplier

Early Illustrative Cases: 1982-91

Critical Is Not Enough: The Case of a Russian Oligarch Acquiring Oregon Steel

Analytical Lessons Learned

Ch 3: Threat II: Leakage of Technology or Expertise to a Foreign-Controlled Entity

Proposed Acquisition of LTV Missile Business by Thomson-CSF

Lenovo's Acquisition of IBM's PC Business

Combining Threats I and II in a Controversial Case: CNOOC's Proposed Acquisition of Unocal

Ch 4: Threat III: Foreign Acquisitions as a Channel for Infiltration, Surveillance, and Sabotage

The Dubai Ports World Controversy

Investigating the Interrelationships between the Three Threats

Ch 5: Implications for CFIUS Strategy: Separating Easy Decisions from Hard Judgments

Adapting Antitrust Theory: The Herfindahl-Hirschman Index

Strategic Trade Theory

The Scope of CFIUS: Defining the Terms

Remediation

Appendix A: CFIUS Covered Transactions, 2005-07

References

Index.

Notes:

"July 2009."

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780881325201

0881325201

OCLC:

648760679