PROTECT USA Act of 2025

What S. 985 does, in plain terms

Prevent Regulatory Overreach from Turning Essential Companies into Targets Act of 2025 or the PROTECT USA Act of 2025 This bill prohibits businesses integral to U.S. national interests from complying with certain foreign sustainability regulations, including the European Union's Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. Specifically, any business entity integral to U.S. national interests is barred from complying with any foreign sustainability due diligence regulation (i.e., any foreign law, regulation, or legal instrument that requires a person to assess the environmental or social impacts of its operations or value chain, take actions to address those impacts, and report on those impacts and actions). Entities covered by this bill include those that do business with any part of the federal government, including by way of federal contracts or leases. Other covered entities include those businesses organized under the laws of the United States that (1) derive at least 25% of their revenue from activities related to the extraction or production of raw materials from the earth, (2) are primarily involved in manufacturing, or (3) produce arms or other products integral to U.S. national defense. The bill prohibits adverse action against entities that comply with this prohibition and requires the President to take action in the public interest to protect such entities from an adverse action. Affected entities may bring a civil action against persons who have taken an adverse action. Penalties for violators include up to a $1 million fine and three years of ineligibility for federal awards or contracts.

Official summary by the Congressional Research Service, via Congress.gov.