The effort looks to close loopholes in an important law passed in 2019.
A bill introduced in the Senate this week would close loopholes in a federal law that prohibits transit funds from being used to buy transit buses and railcars from companies backed by China.
The Safeguarding Transit Operations to Prohibit (STOP) China Act (S.1711) looks to ban companies owned, controlled, or subsidized by foreign adversaries, such as China, from being awarded Department of Transportation (DOT) assistance to supply “rolling stock” vehicles or powertrain components.
This bill is a bipartisan affair, cosponsored by Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Tina Smith (D-N.M.), Shelley Capito (R- W. Va.), and Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.). It builds on 2019’s Transportation Infrastructure Vehicle Security Act (TIVSA), which barred companies with ties to the Chinese government from receiving Federal Transit Administration contracts to build U.S. buses and railcars.
TIVSA has proved to be an important law, and as Chinese firms have sought to exploit loopholes in it Congress has worked quickly to close them.
The Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) strongly supported TIVSA’s passage, as well as the Airport Infrastructure Vehicle Security Act (AIVSA), which was enacted in 2024 and extended these restrictions to airport improvement programs. AAM supports the STOP China Act now; we even signed onto a coalition letter to support it.
Prompt enactment of the STOP China Act is essential to strengthen existing safeguards and prevent new business practices designed to evade the protections established by Section 7613 of the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Building upon that foundational law, which restricts federally assisted transit purchases of rolling stock vehicles from certain state-supported and state-owned companies, this measure further enhances protections for our national and economic security. Absent passage of this legislation, entities Congress clearly intended to be restricted from our public infrastructure will continue to circumvent U.S. law.
Said AAM President Scott Paul:
Beijing’s deep subsidies and non-market practices make it impossible for U.S. transit vehicle manufacturers to win government contracts when pitted against China. This is not a fair fight. American workers are ready and eager to make the strong, secure, and state-of-the art vehicles that our transit system needs. This bill would give them the decent shot they deserve.
Read more about the STOP China Act here.