Grassley Sounds the Alarm on Chinese Theft of American Intellectual Property

BUTLER COUNTY, IOWA - U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) submitted the following statement for the record as part of today's Judiciary Committee hearing titled, "Stealth Stealing: China's Ongoing Theft of U.S. Innovation."

Statement for the Hearing Record by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee
Stealth Stealing: China's Ongoing Theft of U.S. Innovation
Wednesday, April 22, 2026

We're here today to discuss an important issue: the alarming, persistent and pervasive threat that China poses to our intellectual property (IP), patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets.

It's imperative that we protect U.S. patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets, which are the bedrock of American innovation.

Our intellectual property is vital to our continued economic and military success.

Today, the challenge of intellectual property protection is more complex and complicated than ever.

Vigilant protection means following closely what's being done, how it's being done and what's next.

The U.S. is now the most productive country in the world.

In 2024, our GDP was estimated to be $29 trillion.

We're a powerhouse because we're a nation of hard workers, dreamers and creators. We invent and we lead.

It's no wonder that other countries want to steal what we're dreaming up, creating and producing.

We're here today because hostile countries, particularly China, have been succeeding at copying and stealing our patents and trade secrets, pirating our movies and video games and endangering our lives by sending us dangerous counterfeits.

China steals more U.S. intellectual property than any other country by far.

It's estimated that China steals between $400 billion and $600 billion of IP each year, or about $5,000 per American taxpayer.

Here are just a few examples.

Last month, a U.S. federal judge fined a Chinese telecommunications company $50 million for criminally conspiring to steal proprietary technology from Illinois-based Motorola Solutions, Inc.

This stolen technology was successfully used to develop and produce a competing product in China.

Last January, a Chinese national was found guilty of stealing trade secrets from Google.

Between May 2022 and April 2023, while working at Google, he uploaded over 2,000 pages of confidential information containing AI trade secrets to his Google Cloud account.

He then went back to China and founded his own AI and machine learning company.

He lured investors to support his scheme by promising them that he could build an AI supercomputer by copying and tweaking his stolen Google technology.

Last July, another bad actor, who held dual Chinese-American citizenship, pled guilty to stealing U.S. trade secrets, including information on sensors for nuclear missile launch and detection.

Closer to my home, in 2016, an individual was sentenced for stealing trade secrets straight out of the farm fields of Iowa.

He and his accomplices literally pulled inbred, or parent, corn seeds that contained valuable DuPont Pioneer and Monsanto trade secrets out of the ground.

They then tried to escape back to China with them.

The reality is these folks are acting at the behest of and for the benefit of the Chinese Communist Party - all at America's expense.

China's economy has seen record-setting growth. It's grown twelve-fold since the year 2000.

It's transformed itself from an agrarian society to a formidable international power.

China is now further transitioning from a manufacturing economy to a technological one.

It's also becoming a growing military threat due, in part, to stolen technology.

Last week, the U.S. Space Force released a report that identifies China as its most formidable threat.

China is top among our opponents turning outer space from a commercial frontier to a military battle zone.

Unfortunately, the problem is that China has not made these gains honestly. Instead, it made this progress by lifting and stealing patents and trade secrets from U.S. inventors, owners and companies.

The result is lost revenue to our businesses, an increasingly sophisticated Chinese military and China flooding our shores with cheap and dangerous counterfeits, from goods to electronics to drugs.

Let's talk specifically about how they do that.

Sometimes the problem is in China.

For example, China uses deceptive practices against our businesses to steal our inventions.

It's repeatedly lured U.S. companies into partnering with their companies in exchange for the opportunity to sell products in China's huge market.

Over time, China co-opts this technology and kicks the U.S. companies out of China.

Other times, Chinese authorities launch bogus investigations of U.S. companies doing business in China to gain access to protected documents containing trade secrets, patents and other intellectual property.

Additionally, China's courts are becoming increasingly nontransparent, making it difficult and even impossible for injured U.S. parties to fairly resolve their claims.

Where I believe we can have the biggest impact fighting Chinese theft of our intellectual property is here at home.

In 2017, China enacted a law called the Intelligence Law that requires all its citizens and organizations to assist with state intelligence work if asked.

This means China can compel any Chinese national anywhere in the world, including in the United States, to commit espionage against us, our government and our companies.

Every Chinese visitor - whether student, journalist, scientist or tourist - could become a potential spy to steal for China.

Another instance of harm is when Chinese investors buy into American companies, literally steal the IP and then run home and form competing companies in China.

The Chinese also use our own courts against us.

They sue our companies in our own courts for the purpose of gaining access to patents and trade secrets during the discovery process.

I've introduced a bill that would help stop this abusive practice.

There are steps we can take to protect ourselves, our companies and our government.

Our companies and government can do more to vet Chinese nationals entering and living in the United States.

Sometimes tech company employees and contractors simply walk out the door with an employer's IP, as they've done with the technology for driverless cars that now fuels the competing driverless car industry in China.

Our universities and government can vet grant recipients more diligently.

We sometimes naively, and even illegally, give research grants and form academic and scientific partnerships that enrich China with American discoveries.

Finally, we need to be wary of using hardware and software that the Chinese have seeded to collect our data and possibly control our devices and infrastructure.

For example, to prevent this from happening, President Trump prohibited Huawei from doing business in this country, but I dare say other Chinese companies are likely still here doing the same.

I've previously highlighted some of these areas of concern.

I'm a proud co-chair of the Congressional Trademark Caucus.

Last September, I introduced bipartisan legislation empowering Customs and Border Protection to share suspected counterfeits' packaging and shipping information with intellectual property rights holders, e-commerce platforms and transportation carriers.

While I was Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee in 2019 we released the "Fight Against Fakes" report that detailed bad actors' efforts to exploit the marketplace.

I've long expressed my concerns that the Department of Justice fails to adequately enforce the Foreign Agents Registration Act, and have put forth bipartisan legislation to fix this.

We aren't the only congressional committee looking into China's predatory tactics.

Both the House and the Senate are examining a variety of related issues, including China's influence in our higher education system, as well as that country's efforts to constrain supply chains and critical resources.

Unfortunately, the problem is large enough for all of us to have a part.

Today, in this hearing, we are focusing on our nation's obligation to protect our intellectual property and China's constant efforts to take it from us.

The truth is that they use any means they can think of, and don't let international treaties, [World Trade Organization] rules or U.S. laws, deter them.

-30-