Chris Pilkerton Assistant Secretary for Investment Security at the U.S. Treasury Department

The Brussels Hub

MODERATOR:  Good afternoon from the State Department’s European Regional Media Center, or the Brussels Hub.  I would like to welcome everyone joining us for today’s virtual press briefing.  We are very honored to be joined here today by Chris Pilkerton, Assistant Secretary for Investment Security at the U.S. Treasury Department.  Today, Assistant Secretary Pilkerton will provide an overview of his meetings this week in Brussels with foreign counterparts, legal practitioners, and industry stakeholders on investment screening.

And finally, a reminder that today’s briefing is on the record.  And with that, let’s get started.  Assistant Secretary Pilkerton, thank you so much for joining us today, and I’ll turn it over to you for your opening remarks.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PILKERTON:  Thanks so much, and thanks to all of you for joining.  So we are here in Brussels, and we’ve been here for the last couple of days, and it really has been a tremendous trip – a lot of engagement, a lot of important conversations have been had, and a lot of good follow-ups that we’re looking forward to working on.

So, I’m the Assistant Secretary for Investment Security at the Treasury Department, which means that I lead the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS.  CFIUS is 50 years old, and it is a committee that is chaired by the Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, and then eight other agencies also serve along the committee itself with Secretary Bessent, and that’s represented at the secretary level.

On the CFIUS side of the house, our job is to review certain transactions that could be from a foreign investor, a foreign country making an investment in the United States that potentially could implicate national security concerns.  A large number of the filings that are associated with our office are voluntary, although there are certain types of transactions that do have mandatory filings.

The President has made it very clear that America is open for business, so one of the things that we’re doing at CFIUS is seeking to demystify certain components of kind of the black box that CFIUS has been defined as in the past.  There will always need to be confidentiality at CFIUS; there’s a statutory component associated with that, as well as the fact that we do a lot of our work with the Intelligence Community and law enforcement.  But because it’s been clear that America is open for business, we are seeking to do as much engagement as possible with countries, with investors, and with companies to explain our process, and we’re doing so in a very transparent way.

In fact, just over the last few weeks, for the first time, CFIUS has developed a new website that covers two things that are of particular interest to folks in this field.  One is a pre-filing consultation page.  On that page, parties or lawyers or investors can put anonymized information about a transaction into our website, and then ultimately be assigned a case officer.

That’s very important because that means that they’ll be able to have a conversation about a case theoretically even while it’s being negotiated.  And that’s an important factor for us, because then we can have a conversation with a party about potential risks associated with that transaction, and then how we would seek to potentially mitigate that.  It’s good to have those conversations early on, because then it can be part of the actual transaction documents, and when folks actually come back to us with a filing, we’ve seen and are familiar with that case.

The second thing that I will point out on our website is that we’ve actually put some specific types of risks that we see as well as different types of mitigation that’s been applied before.  And we have sort of time-tested mitigation techniques that are utilized, and I think it’s important from a transparency perspective to be able to provide that to parties and folks that may come through our process.

So for folks that are frequent filers, we’ve developed a new program as well called the Known Investor Program.  It’s currently in its pilot phase, but we believe that we’ll be going live with the program in the early part of next year.  The idea behind that program is that for folks that come before CFIUS pretty frequently, we’d like to do sort of a super due diligence, which includes the Intelligence Community and law enforcement to ultimately make a determination as to background on the individuals or on the companies.  And that’s important as well because that allows us to spend our sort of statutory review time much more on the transaction itself.

And of course we’re looking at all kinds of different transactions, certainly a variety of different technologies.  And we utilize the entirety of the committee, as well as all of the federal government and its subject matter experts, to be able to analyze these transactions.  We have something called the Investment Security Technology Initiative, where we’re working directly with corporate R&D as well as academics to look at pre-commercialized technology and the potential risks associated with that, because we want to be able to learn about those risks and think about those kinds of mitigation techniques that we should be considering now that we can apply to future filings.

We also have a compliance and enforcement division.  So, after these mitigation agreements are signed by parties and a case is cleared, there’s ongoing mitigation enforcement and compliance associated with those.  So, you may actually have a third-party monitor, a security monitor, audits, and those kinds of things, and those are very important as we manage the national security risk.

The last piece that I will say on this as well is that the administration is very focused on what we call the non-notified program, the idea that there are potential transactions in the United States that should have come through CFIUS but haven’t.  So, we have an entire team that really scours a lot of potential transactions that potentially can be brought in for review.  And it’s important that we find those not just from a national security perspective, but even in instances where we think we might be able to mitigate those transactions, it may be difficult to do so because they’ve already closed.  And so it’s important that we be able to review those, because we’ve seen certain blocks that have been – or divestiture requirements that have come from this administration, and those have been associated with cases that we weren’t notified of in advance.

So, we want to be able to work with parties as early as we can, answer as many questions as we can, and engage to ensure that, like I was saying before, America is open for business.  I’ve traveled the United States to a lot of companies that have come through the CFIUS process, and they’ve been able to share their experiences and demonstrate the downstream impact of foreign investment, including economic development and the creation of jobs.

So, when I think of the CFIUS program, I think of the four Ps:  Protection – like we’ve talked about, the national security protection that is required, and that is our north star.  Promote – talking to parties to find out what they want to achieve, what their investment strategy plans are, and how we can be helpful in developing those while continuing our national security mission.  We also partner.  Partner is the third P, and that’s very important because under FIRRMA, which was a 2018 statute in the United States, we end up partnering with all kinds of different countries to be able to provide technical assistance and expertise on a program that we’ve developed and matured over the course of 50 years.

Our work in that space goes all across Europe and really all across the world.  We host folks to the United States very often to be able to work with them and provide our feedback on legislation, on actual sort of program concepts, but then also, really most importantly, the operationalization of how to actually implement these programs.  So, we’re excited about continuing to do that.

And then the third piece I will mention is Prepare.  How do we think about foreign investment in the future for the United States and for our partners and allies around the world?  And I think the example that I would give is the Investment Screening Technology Initiative to be thinking about what’s sort of around the corner.

So over the course of the last couple of days, we’ve held some great meetings.  The first meeting was with the U.S. Ambassador to NATO, Matt Whitaker.  Ambassador Whitaker and I talked about the importance of working with our allies and partners, and the opportunity to provide assistance in the development of those programs.  Because when you think about the idea of different countries having a robust foreign direct investment screening program, it’s important for the United States’ national security.  If there is an adversary that is taking advantage of a country in some sort of trading relationship, for example, and they don’t have a strong foreign direct investment program, that can present a bad vector for the United States.  So, it’s something that really is part of our program and very critical.  And the idea that we were working together to also conduct the promote activity was something that he was very interested in, and looking forward to following up with him and his leadership here.

The next meeting we had was with the European Commission, which was a wonderful meeting with their leadership.  We talked a lot about the structure that is here in the EC and the various member-states with respect to how foreign direct investment and the screening mechanisms are done.  We were able to share some information and best practices, and we’re looking forward to that continued relationship.

We also had the chance to meet with some of the member-states and learn a little bit more about the history of their programs and what kind of trends that they’re seeing and once again, ways that we can help them and help support their efforts.

We were engaged with a non-profit called CELIS.  CELIS focuses on foreign direct investment and includes practitioners – so lawyers, companies, academics, and a variety of think tanks – and had the chance to engage with them to sort of talk about what is the relationship between all of the countries that were involved in the conference and how can we continue to learn from each other.  So it was a really, really good event.

The last two meetings we had demonstrate another component of the program that is really a priority for Secretary Bessent.  Now, obviously national security will always be the north star of the CFIUS program, but when I took on this role he asked me to also focus on customer service.  And that customer service is very important in the sense that we want to be able to engage with our partners and with parties, as I’ve shared.

And so the last two groups that we met with were, one, we met at a law firm with a number of lawyers that practice in this space throughout Europe and we had the chance to tell them about some of the things that their program – or that our program is doing and sort of share some of the best practices that we’ve seen for folks that are filing through the program, and they were able to talk to us about their experiences.  And that feedback loop is really important in the sense that we want to be able to continue to tailor and advance our program and be able to respond to the needs of the parties coming through that process.

The last meeting that we just came from was with BusinessEurope.  A fantastic conversation of a couple of dozen companies, some of which have come through the CFIUS process; others were sort of looking to learn more.  So, we talked about all of these things, and the last piece of that meeting the question was asked:  What can we do to support your mission?  And what I had said was really just to be able to amplify that there’s a – that the CFIUS office is really open for business.  We want folks to come visit us, to explain to us, to the extent they’re comfortable, their potential investment plans so we can learn more about the company by the time that they’re going to file.

So I just want to thank everyone for the opportunity to speak today.  We talked about a number of other programs over the course of our visit.  We talked about our outbound program, which is a program that’s been in the United States for about two years.  It’s been focused on artificial intelligence and quantum and semi-conductors, and its U.S. investment into China.  There’s a prohibition and notification regime associated with that.

In the end of 20 – at the end of 2025, there was something called the COINS legislation that was passed by the U.S. Congress, and that expands the technology areas to those existing areas that I mentioned, but includes hypersonics and supercomputing, as well as expands some of the geographies.  We have rules that will be coming out in the next few weeks that are in draft form.  We expect to be able to get a lot of feedback on those rules in our notice-and-comment process, and are hopeful that that new program will go live in the spring.

So, the Office of Investment Security at the Treasury Department is very busy and we’re doing some really great things, but we’re very appreciative of your attendance to this today so we can amplify some of the work that we’re doing.

And with that, Bridget, I’ll turn it over to you.

MODERATOR:  Thank you, Assistant Secretary Pilkerton.

We will now turn to the question-and-answer portion of today’s briefing.  And as a reminder, we’d like to focus on questions related to investment screening.

I’ll get us started with some pre-submitted questions.  And the first is from Germany, from Handelsblatt.  And the question is:  “In which way does the United States cooperate with Germany and other European countries on FDI screening?”

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PILKERTON:  Thank you very much for that question.  So obviously Germany is an important ally and we spend a lot of time with them in sharing information with respect to best practices around investment screening, trends and things that we’re seeing with our particular types of programs, as well as different trainings around sort of the interagency.  As I mentioned, the CFIUS program is made up of not just Treasury but also Departments of War and Commerce, and USTR, and Energy, and others.  And so our trade relationship is strong.  But we certainly want to be working very closely in the FDA – excuse me – FDI context as well.

MODERATOR:  Thank you.  And our next question is an – also a pre-submitted question, and that’s coming in from TV Nord in Moldova.  And the question is:  “How can the United States support the Republic of Moldova in identifying and mitigating economic security risks associated with foreign investments and strategic sectors, particularly those involving external influence?”

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PILKERTON:  Thank you very much for that question.  So, when we look at investment screening, we use sort of a standard matrix of the vulnerability, the threat, and the consequence, and that’s sort of a standard enterprise risk matrix.  So that sort of sets the tone for a whole host of concepts that end up being utilized as tools in any screening model.

And so as I mentioned before, we look at a variety of risks and we look to see if those risks can be mitigated.  And that really sort of sets forth almost an academic and classroom context for investment screening.  So, when we work with countries, we sort of start with that.  But as I mentioned in the beginning, it’s not just about sort of setting that framework for the country, because no investment screening program is exactly alike.  It’s not one-size-fits-all; it depends on what the individual government’s priorities are, what their resources are.

So, with respect to Moldova or any other country that we would be engaged in, we would set that standard up, and then we would work very directly with the parties to – with the country to learn more about what their goals, share information about what we’ve seen work, and then ultimately go back to the idea to operationalize a program that fits what their needs are and is also able to be managed.  And then the last part of that is that sort of ongoing feedback loop – what’s working, what’s not, and how can we continue to be helpful.  Because these are not just one-off conversations; it’s an ongoing discussion.

MODERATOR:  Thank you, Assistant Secretary.  I see there’s another question or two in the chat, but that’s related to sanctions.  So, I won’t go to those, but I did want to ask another Moldovan television network, TV8, if they had any questions related to investment screening.

Okay.  Well, if not, then I’ll hand it back over to Dana from Germany, Handelsblatt.  Dana, can you unmute and ask your questions?

QUESTION:  Yes.  I think I am unmuted now.  Yes.

MODERATOR:  You are.  Go right ahead.

QUESTION:  Great.  Thank you so much, Mr. Pilkerton.  I was wondering if you can share some of the observations that you made on specific trends that you’re seeing on FDI in both Europe and the U.S., especially when it comes to specific countries like China.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PILKERTON:  Yes, no, thank you very much for that question.  I mean, I think trends that we’re seeing are, as far as investment goes, certainly a variety of cutting-edge technology trends.  We’re seeing significant investments, as you might imagine, in AI, quantum, semiconductors, data centers.  And I think we’re also engaged with our allies and partners on the associated supply chain.

From the conversations that we’ve had with our allies and partners in Europe over the course of this conversation, they’re seeing, I think, similar trends.  And so the idea of this was really to kind of talk about maybe some of what those trends are and how we continue to help to support each other to ensure that that investment does enter the country in a way that’s safe and secure.

QUESTION:  Thank you very much.

MODERATOR:  Thank you, Assistant Secretary.  Does anyone else have any questions at this point?  One of the questions that, Assistant Secretary, I’ve heard many journalists ask of you is: Are there success stories of your office’s partnership with European companies looking to invest in the United States?  And how has that positively benefitted both European countries, where the companies are, and the United States?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PILKERTON:  Oh, there’s many success stories.  And as I’d mentioned, CFIUS does have confidentiality around it, but we’ve started a new program called the Strategic Vendor Program, which is a way to identify U.S.-based companies that may be able to help support the supply chain for companies that are coming through the CFIUS process.  And one of those companies is a company from Finland called Bluefors, which is a quantum refrigeration company based in upstate New York in Syracuse.

We had the good fortune to be able to go visit them just a few weeks ago, and what was very exciting about the visit was that we – it was held at Bluefors, but we also had members of the Syracuse Quantum Institute there, and we had a lot of local economic development officials.  And they were telling us about the process by which Bluefors ultimately was acquired and the investment sort of came through, and they talked about the training that they’re doing for new folks in this space.  They talked about the training that they’re actually able to, through Syracuse, able to train individuals who only have a high school diploma, or may not but certainly at the level, to be able to become technicians to work in the larger technology ecosystem that’s being developed up there.

And one of the great things about it as well is you had companies like Bluefors and then other technology companies that were in the room, and they demonstrated that not only is there a strong electricity grid but there is also a workforce that could help support technological investment.  So the next day that we were there, the company Micron was going to be breaking ground.  So success builds upon success.  I’ve had a chance to continue to stay in touch with Bluefors.  They’re an important component of the quantum supply chain.

And just probably a week ago, I was with the ambassador of Finland at her home, and a number of quantum companies all were – all Finnish companies, talking about the different types of investment that they’re looking to make in the United States to even further strengthen that supply chain and make the partnership between the United States and Finland even stronger.

MODERATOR:  Thank you so much, Assistant Secretary.  We have time for one more question if anyone would like to raise their hand in the chat in the next few moments here.  If not, I will hand it back over to you, Assistant Secretary Pilkerton, for any final remarks for the group.  And I don’t see any questions, so I will hand back over to you.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PILKERTON:  Thank you, Bridget.  And I’d like to thank all of you for attending today.  This has been a great conversation, and I appreciated all the insightful questions.  I would just like to say that the weather changes very frequently here in Brussels, but what I did see is the commitment of our European allies and partners has never wavered, and neither will ours as we move forward to protect national security, but also ensure that America is open for business, and we have that safe, secure, and open investment environment.  So thank you all today.

MODERATOR:  Terrific.  Thank you again, Assistant Secretary Pilkerton, for joining us after a very busy couple of days.  Thank you to our journalists for joining us.

Shortly we will send the audio recording of the briefing to all of you participating and provide a transcript as soon as it is available.  We’d also love to hear your feedback, and you can contact us any time at TheBrusselsHub@state.gov.  Thank you again for your participation, and I hope you will join us for another Brussels Hub press briefing soon.  This concludes today’s press briefing.