H.R. 8924 would require the Department of Commerce to identify in the Federal Register any foreign adversary entity that is using a U.S. patent or invention that it acquired through improper means and for which it lacks an export license. (The bill defines a foreign adversary entity as a citizen of China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, or Venezuela, or an entity headquartered in or organized under the laws of one of those countries.) The bill also would require the department to determine whether those entities are in violation of export controls in response to petitions from U.S. persons. H.R. 8924 also would require the department to report to the Congress on all entities so identified. For purposes of this estimate, CBO assumes that the bill will be enacted early in 2025.

Enacting H.R. 8924 would increase the identification of export-license violations. As a result, more people and entities would be subject to civil or criminal penalties for violating U.S. export laws. Such penalties are recorded as revenues, and a portion of those penalties can be spent without further appropriation. Because CBO expects that very few additional people and entities would be affected, CBO estimates that enacting the bill would have insignificant effects on both revenues and direct spending and would reduce net deficits by less than $500,000.