PROTECT USA Act of 2026

Summary#

This bill would stop most U.S. companies that are "integral to the national interests of the United States" from following any foreign sustainability due diligence regulation. The bill defines those foreign rules as laws that require companies to assess environmental or social impacts, act to address those impacts, and report on them. It explicitly includes the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive and its successors. The bill says the rule does not apply to foreign laws that are substantively similar to a U.S. law. It allows companies to continue actions required by U.S. statutes and ordinary business activities, such as answering investor or consumer requests.

The bill creates a process for companies to petition the President for an exemption. Petitions are to be granted unless the President denies within 30 days with a written explanation and any conditions for approval. The President must consider factors like impacts on U.S. supply chains, jobs, and the economy when deciding denial requests. The bill also bars people or organizations from taking adverse actions against covered companies for complying with this Act. It says U.S. courts may not recognize foreign court judgments related to those foreign sustainability due diligence rules unless Congress says otherwise. The President is authorized to take actions he or she determines are in the public interest to protect covered companies. The bill sets a civil penalty of up to $1,000,000 for violating the ban on adverse actions.

What it means for you#

• If you run a covered U.S. company: the bill would generally prohibit you from complying with foreign sustainability due diligence rules, though you may still follow U.S. laws and carry out ordinary business activities. You could ask the President for an exemption.
• If you are an investor, customer, or worker connected to such a company: the bill would bar people from taking adverse actions against the company for refusing to follow those foreign rules, and it would prevent most foreign judgments about those rules from being enforced in U.S. courts.
• If you are a foreign regulator or court: the bill says its covered foreign sustainability requirements (including the EU directive named in the text) are not to be followed by covered U.S. entities and related foreign judgments generally will not be recognized in U.S. courts.

Expenses#

• The bill authorizes a civil penalty of up to $1,000,000 for a person who takes a prohibited adverse action against a covered entity.
• No publicly available information on overall federal budget costs, enforcement costs, or other financial effects.

Proponents' View#

The bill’s findings state that supporters see protecting the ability of U.S. citizens and companies to engage in international commerce as important. The findings say extractive and manufacturing companies are key to prosperity and world economic growth, and that keeping access to materials (like energy, mining, timber, and agriculture) is critical. The findings argue that foreign restrictions that differ from U.S. rules can hurt employment, economic stability, scientific progress, and trade, and that some foreign sustainability regimes with extraterritorial reach pose risks to U.S. competitiveness, innovation, and energy supply.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.