The bill
Strengthening Exports Against China Act
S. 753, 119th Congress — read as touching Defense Contractors.
Strengthening Exports Against China Act
Download PDFBill ID: 119/s/753
Last Updated: May 10, 2026
Sponsored by
Sen. Cortez Masto, Catherine [D-NV]
ID: C001113
Follow the money
The sponsor
Sen. Cortez Masto, Catherine [D-NV]
Every bill has someone who introduced it. That name is where the paper trail starts.
The money
$97,654 raised
28 itemised contributions to this sponsor, pulled from FEC filings.
The alignment
63% match to Project 2025
This bill's text tracks the "Introduction" section, p. 692-694 of the Mandate for Leadership.
Bill's Journey to Becoming a Law
Track this bill's progress through the legislative process
Latest Action
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Hearings held.
March 25, 2026
Introduced
Committee Review
📍 Current Status
Next: The bill moves to the floor for full chamber debate and voting.
🗳️
Floor Action
✅
Passed Senate
🏛️
House Review
🎉
Passed Congress
🖊️
Presidential Action
⚖️
Became Law
📚 How does a bill become a law?
1. Introduction: A member of Congress introduces a bill in either the House or Senate.
2. Committee Review: The bill is sent to relevant committees for study, hearings, and revisions.
3. Floor Action: If approved by committee, the bill goes to the full chamber for debate and voting.
4. Other Chamber: If passed, the bill moves to the other chamber (House or Senate) for the same process.
5. Conference: If both chambers pass different versions, a conference committee reconciles the differences.
6. Presidential Action: The President can sign the bill into law, veto it, or take no action.
7. Became Law: If signed (or if Congress overrides a veto), the bill becomes law!
Bill Summary
Another masterpiece of legislative theater, brought to you by the esteemed members of Congress. Let's dissect this farce, shall we?
**Main Purpose & Objectives:** The "Strengthening Exports Against China Act" (SEACA) claims to be a bold move against China's economic dominance. But don't be fooled – it's just a cleverly crafted Trojan horse for corporate interests.
In reality, SEACA aims to tweak the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 to exclude certain financing from default rate calculations. This will allow the bank to lend more money to companies that "compete" with Chinese entities or replace their products/services. The real objective? To grease the wheels of crony capitalism and enrich well-connected corporations.
**Key Provisions & Changes to Existing Law:** The bill amends Section 6(a)(3) of the Export-Import Bank Act, adding a new subsection that excludes certain financing from default rate calculations. This change will enable the bank to lend more money to companies that:
1. Replace or compete with Chinese entities on the Entity List (maintained by the Bureau of Industry and Security). 2. Receive funding under the Program on China and Transformational Exports.
In other words, SEACA creates a loophole for favored corporations to receive taxpayer-backed loans while pretending to "compete" with China.
**Affected Parties & Stakeholders:** The usual suspects will benefit from this bill:
1. Large corporations with ties to China or those seeking to exploit the Chinese market. 2. Lobbyists and special interest groups who've been pushing for this legislation. 3. Politicians who'll receive campaign contributions and favors in return for their support.
Meanwhile, taxpayers will foot the bill for these risky loans, and small businesses will be left to compete with behemoths that have the government's backing.
**Potential Impact & Implications:** SEACA is a recipe for disaster:
1. Increased risk of defaults and taxpayer losses due to lax lending standards. 2. Further entrenchment of crony capitalism, where well-connected corporations receive preferential treatment. 3. A potential escalation of trade tensions with China, as the US government subsidizes companies that "compete" with Chinese entities.
In conclusion, SEACA is a masterclass in legislative doublespeak. It's a bill designed to enrich corporate interests while pretending to be tough on China. The real disease here is corruption, and this bill is just another symptom of a system that prioritizes special interests over the public good.
Related Topics
Trade & International Commerce
Generated using Llama 3.1 70B (Dr. Haus personality)
💰 Campaign Finance Network
Sen. Cortez Masto, Catherine [D-NV]
Congress 119 • 2024 Election Cycle
Total Contributions
$97,654
24 donors
PACs
$0
Organizations
$11,850
Committees
$0
Individuals
$85,804
No PAC contributions found
1
LAS VEGAS PAIUTE TRIBE
$3,300
2
MISSISSIPPI BAND OF CHOCTAW INDIANS
$2,500
3
SHAKOPEE MDEWAKANTON SIOUX COMMUNITY
$2,000
4
ALABAMA-COUSHATTA TRIBE
$1,500
5
MUSCOGEE CREEK NATION
$1,000
6
MOHEGAN TRIBE OF INDIANS OF CONNECTICUT
$1,000
7
CHOCTAW NATION OF OKLAHOMA
$550
No committee contributions found
1
LONGTIN, LUANN
$17,325
2
ROOPE, CALEB
$6,600
3
PORTER, KRISTINE L.
$6,600
4
PORTER, JON CHRISTOPHER JR
$6,600
5
SLIFKA, ROSALYN
$5,800
6
NAGY, AURANGZEB N.
$4,800
7
LONGTIN, DAVID
$4,700
8
DE BURLO, C. RUSSELL
$3,500
9
SIMON, DEBORAH
$3,375
10
COOKE, JOHN
$3,356
11
SEYEDIN, NADER
$3,348
12
SWEEN, PAUL
$3,300
13
CARUSO, RICK J.
$3,300
14
EMERSON, WILLIAM
$3,300
15
MOLASKY, CHRISTY
$3,300
16
KATZ, MICHAEL
$3,300
17
LEVIN, DEBORAH
$3,300
Cosponsors & Their Campaign Finance
This bill has 1 cosponsors. Below are their top campaign contributors.
Sen. Rounds, Mike [R-SD]
ID: R000605
Top Contributors
10
1
SHAKOPEE MDEWAKANTON SIOUX COMMUNITY
OrganizationPRIOR LAKE, MN
$1,000
Nov 22, 2023
2
SHAKOPEE MDEWAKANTON SIOUX COMMUNITY
OrganizationPRIOR LAKE, MN
$1,000
Apr 30, 2024
3
CHOCTAW NATION OF OKLAHOMA
OrganizationDURANT, OK
$500
Nov 1, 2024
4
ROWAN, CAROLYN
CAROLYN ROWAN COLLECTION • OWNER
IndividualGREENWICH, CT
$6,600
Mar 30, 2023
5
ROWAN, MARC J
APOLLO MGMT. • CEO
IndividualGREENWICH, CT
$6,600
Mar 30, 2023
6
HEGYI, ALBERT
1ST FINANCIAL BANK • BANKER
IndividualSOUTHPORT, CT
$6,600
Aug 22, 2023
7
ROWAN, CAROLYN
CAROLYN ROWAN COLLECTION • OWNER
IndividualGREENWICH, CT
$6,600
Mar 30, 2023
8
ROWAN, MARC J
APOLLO MGMT. • CEO
IndividualGREENWICH, CT
$6,600
Mar 30, 2023
9
HEGYI, ALBERT
1ST FINANCIAL BANK • BANKER
IndividualSOUTHPORT, CT
$6,600
Aug 22, 2023
10
PFAUTCH, ROY
CIVIC SERVICE, INC. • CONSULTANT
IndividualSAINT LOUIS, MO
$6,600
Feb 20, 2024
Donor Network - Sen. Cortez Masto, Catherine [D-NV]
PACs
Organizations
Individuals
Politicians
Hub layout: Politicians in center, donors arranged by type in rings around them.
Loading...
Showing 72 nodes and 31 connections (73 secondary connections hidden)
Total contributions: $100,154
Top Donors - Sen. Cortez Masto, Catherine [D-NV]
Showing top 24 donors by contribution amount
7 Orgs17 Individuals
Industry Impact
Which industries are materially affected by specific provisions in this bill. 3 helped.
- +Defense Contractorsconfidence 0.80
Section 2(B)(i)(I) excludes financing for entities that facilitate replacement or competition with products/services of entities on the Entity List maintained by BIS, which includes many Chinese defense and technology firms; this benefits U.S. defense contractors by reducing competition from Chinese firms in export financing.
- +Semiconductors & Hardwareconfidence 0.75
Section 2(B)(i)(I) excludes financing for entities that compete with products/services of entities on the Entity List, which includes Chinese semiconductor firms; this benefits U.S. semiconductor companies by reducing Chinese competition in export financing.
- +Big Tech Platformsconfidence 0.70
Section 2(B)(i)(I) excludes financing for entities that compete with products/services of entities on the Entity List, which includes Chinese tech firms like Huawei and SMIC; this benefits U.S. big tech platforms by limiting Chinese competition in export financing.
Who funds the sponsor on these industries
For each industry this bill affects, here's what the sponsor (Sen. Cortez Masto, Catherine [D-NV])received from donors associated with that industry during the 2022–present cycles. Donations are not proof of intent — they are a record of who funds the people writing the law.
Industries this bill HELPS
- from 24 contributions
- MCINTYRE, BRUCE$2,000
- KESKES, SIA$250
- LEARY, JONATHAN$180
- PARE, DIANA$120
- from 1 contribution
- DILAPI, CHRISTINE$500
- from 11 contributions
- MCMAHON, TOM$225
- GINESTRA, MARCOS$30
Project 2025 Policy Matches
This bill shows semantic similarity to the following sections of the Project 2025 policy document.
Introduction
Moderate63.0%
Pages: 692-694
— 659 — Section 4: The Economy warfighting capabilities.” He writes, “Every year, more than 300,000 Communist Chinese nationals attend U.S. universities or are hired at U.S. national laborato- ries, innovation centers, incubators, and think tanks.” Huawei, “an instrument of Chinese military espionage,” is now partnering with UC Berkeley on research with “important future military applications.” China is also engaged in what Warren Buffett calls “conquest by purchase,” as it uses revenues from its trade surpluses “to buy American real estate, companies, and financial assets.” In sum, Navarro believes our current trade policy enriches our allies and adversaries while hurting us, weakens our industrial base while strengthening China’s, and shortchanges “Main Street manufacturers and workers.” Such non-reciprocal “free” trade is slowly undermining our capabilities and our freedom. A small component of trade policy involves the Export–Import Bank, and Jenni- fer Hazelton and Veronique de Rugy debate its merits in Chapter 23. In support of the bank, Hazelton writes, “EXIM provides financing only when the private sector will not.” She says, “Export credit is a strategy weapon in China’s whole-of-govern- ment approach to enhance its global power.” China provided an estimated “$500 billion in export credit” in 2018, “approaching in that one year the total amount of financing EXIM has provided in its 90-year history.” Hazelton argues that when large American companies can get a loan from EXIM rather than having to meet the demands of export credit agencies in Europe or elsewhere, it helps American small businesses, too. She writes that the U.S. “would be foolish to abandon this field of play.” Opposing the bank, de Rugy writes, “EXIM operates in effect as a protectionist agency that picks winners and losers in the market by providing political privileges to firms that are already well-financed.” She denies it promotes exports and argues it hurts small businesses, which often have to compete against large businesses that are able to get the loans. She writes that it also helps foreign companies, such as state-run China Air, that buy U.S. exports from American companies such as Boeing. The bottom line, she says, “is that the Bank should be abolished.” In Chapter 21, former assistant secretary of commerce Thomas F. Gilman describes the Department of Commerce as dominated by career staff who are unin- terested in implementing the President’s priorities. The department clearly needs far more political leadership, including at the Census Bureau, as Gilman notes. The Census Bureau, unlike much of the federal government, has a constitution- ally required mission. Yet the 2020 Census was at least somewhat compromised by overly risk-averse COVID policies that prevented census field representatives from going door-to-door for much of that year. The Census Bureau’s website, one of the worst in the federal government, buries crucial statistics where only aca- demics or advocates are likely to find them. In addition, Gilman writes that a new Administration should ensure that the Bureau of Economic Affairs, also housed at Commerce, “conducts its statistical analysis in a consistent and objective manner.” — 660 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise Moreover, the International Trade Administration—which “is centrally placed to craft and implement U.S. trade policy”—should counter “the malign influence of China and other U.S. adversaries” and strongly “defend against trade violations.” In Chapter 22, William L. Walton, Stephen Moore, and David R. Burton note that under the Biden Administration, the Treasury Department has failed to achieve any of the agency’s core objectives. Under the leadership of Secretary Janet Yellen, Treasury has placed “equity” and “climate change” among its top five pri- orities. The next Administration must act decisively to curtail activities that fall outside of Treasury’s mandate and primary mission. Treasury must refocus on its core mission of promoting economic growth, prosperity, and economic stability. The authors add that “Treasury should make balancing the federal budget a mis- sion-critical objective.” The authors propose legislation to reform the tax code, writing, Tax policy has a powerful impact on the economy. The Treasury Department should develop and promote tax reform legislation that will promote prosperity. To accomplish this, tax reform should improve incentives to work, save, and invest. This, in turn, is accomplished primarily by reducing marginal tax rates, reducing the cost of capital, and broadening the tax base to eliminate tax-induced economic distortions by eliminating special-interest tax credits, deductions, and exclusions. Tax compliance costs will decline precipitously if the tax system is substantially simplified. The Treasury Department should also promote tax competition rather than supporting an international tax cartel. Chapter 22 includes proposals to reduce the intrusiveness and increase the accountability of the Internal Revenue Service. The chapter also explains how the interagency Committee on Foreign Invest- ment in the United States (CFIUS), chaired by Treasury, should realign its priorities to meet the United States’ current foreign policy threats, especially from China. It explains how Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which manages the anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism (AML-CFT) programs, can be improved to reduce the burden on small firms and improve the effectiveness of the AML-CFT regime. In Chapter 25, Karen Kerrigan describes the Small Business Administration (SBA) as a “sprawling, unaccountable agency” replete with “waste, fraud, and mis- management” and guilty of “mission creep.” Moreover, its “initiatives aimed at ‘inclusivity’ are in fact creating exclusivity and stringent selectivity in deciding what types of small businesses and entities can use SBA programs.” According to Kerrigan, the Office of Advocacy “is one of the bright spots within the SBA that a conservative Administration could supercharge to dismantle extreme regulatory
Introduction
Moderate63.0%
Pages: 692-694
— 659 — Section 4: The Economy warfighting capabilities.” He writes, “Every year, more than 300,000 Communist Chinese nationals attend U.S. universities or are hired at U.S. national laborato- ries, innovation centers, incubators, and think tanks.” Huawei, “an instrument of Chinese military espionage,” is now partnering with UC Berkeley on research with “important future military applications.” China is also engaged in what Warren Buffett calls “conquest by purchase,” as it uses revenues from its trade surpluses “to buy American real estate, companies, and financial assets.” In sum, Navarro believes our current trade policy enriches our allies and adversaries while hurting us, weakens our industrial base while strengthening China’s, and shortchanges “Main Street manufacturers and workers.” Such non-reciprocal “free” trade is slowly undermining our capabilities and our freedom. A small component of trade policy involves the Export–Import Bank, and Jenni- fer Hazelton and Veronique de Rugy debate its merits in Chapter 23. In support of the bank, Hazelton writes, “EXIM provides financing only when the private sector will not.” She says, “Export credit is a strategy weapon in China’s whole-of-govern- ment approach to enhance its global power.” China provided an estimated “$500 billion in export credit” in 2018, “approaching in that one year the total amount of financing EXIM has provided in its 90-year history.” Hazelton argues that when large American companies can get a loan from EXIM rather than having to meet the demands of export credit agencies in Europe or elsewhere, it helps American small businesses, too. She writes that the U.S. “would be foolish to abandon this field of play.” Opposing the bank, de Rugy writes, “EXIM operates in effect as a protectionist agency that picks winners and losers in the market by providing political privileges to firms that are already well-financed.” She denies it promotes exports and argues it hurts small businesses, which often have to compete against large businesses that are able to get the loans. She writes that it also helps foreign companies, such as state-run China Air, that buy U.S. exports from American companies such as Boeing. The bottom line, she says, “is that the Bank should be abolished.” In Chapter 21, former assistant secretary of commerce Thomas F. Gilman describes the Department of Commerce as dominated by career staff who are unin- terested in implementing the President’s priorities. The department clearly needs far more political leadership, including at the Census Bureau, as Gilman notes. The Census Bureau, unlike much of the federal government, has a constitution- ally required mission. Yet the 2020 Census was at least somewhat compromised by overly risk-averse COVID policies that prevented census field representatives from going door-to-door for much of that year. The Census Bureau’s website, one of the worst in the federal government, buries crucial statistics where only aca- demics or advocates are likely to find them. In addition, Gilman writes that a new Administration should ensure that the Bureau of Economic Affairs, also housed at Commerce, “conducts its statistical analysis in a consistent and objective manner.”
Introduction
Moderate62.4%
Pages: 758-760
— 725 — Export-Import Bank l China’s export credit activity is greater than that of the ECAs of the entire G7 combined. Today, China is the world’s largest official creditor, maintaining a portfolio more than twice the size of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund combined. l China’s highly aggressive Belt and Road Initiative, which has prompted international criticism for ensnaring the developing world in “debt-trap diplomacy,” has created a sphere of economic and strategic influence that includes about 150 countries, rivaling the relationships of the United States and her allies. Unlike America and the G7 economies, China does not subscribe to the rules- based order that has governed export credit financing for nearly a century. As in so many other things, China plays by its own rules and is opaque in how it operates, weaponizing its export credit financing deals by offering developing nations terms that are often “too good to be true.” Once the project is underway, the Chinese have been known to change the terms, making a project unaffordable for the purchasing country. These tactics have yielded China important strategic plunder like mines and critical minerals, satellites, and even ports like those in Hambantota, Sri Lanka, and Mombasa, Kenya. Export credit is a strategic weapon in China’s whole-of-government approach to enhance its global power, economic might, and national security. The only country that has the economic heft to counter China’s aggressions in export credit financing is the United States. Not only do American companies risk losing out to Chinese competitors for international opportunities if EXIM is not there to offer support, but a United States without a functioning export credit agency also leaves an unchecked China with a wide-open field to claim jurisdiction over swaths of ocean and shipping lanes, expand its economic influence, and create major changes in the global balance of power. In response to Chinese aggression in export credit, the ECAs of other coun- tries have reacted defensively to change their policies and programs to avoid losing access to large chunks of global markets. Many countries, including strong U.S. allies like the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, and Italy, have changed the mission of their ECAs from one of leveling the playing field for their exporters to hunting proactively for transactions for their businesses and advancing their national strategic interests over the long term. In addition, foreign buyers, par- ticularly those looking to build large international projects, have been indicating that the availability of government-backed financing is a core component of their evaluation of bids and identification of sourcing. Allied nations have taken steps like lowering their content requirements in order to lure more deals, often at U.S. expense.
Showing 3 of 4 policy matches
About These Correlations
Policy matches are calculated using semantic similarity between bill summaries and Project 2025 policy text. A score of 60% or higher indicates meaningful thematic overlap. This does not imply direct causation or intent, but highlights areas where legislation aligns with Project 2025 policy objectives.