New Bill Targets CCP Officials’ Finances: Treasury Must Track Assets and Explain Illicit Gains

The Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act of 2025 is a new piece of legislation designed to put financial pressure on high-ranking Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials if the President determines that China’s actions pose a threat to the U.S. under the existing Taiwan Relations Act. If that trigger is pulled, the Treasury Secretary immediately gets the job of identifying and reporting on the finances of at least 10 specific, high-level CCP officials—including members of the Politburo Standing Committee and the Central Committee—who deal with Taiwan policy. The core of the bill is targeted financial scrutiny and the threat of cutting off access to the U.S. financial system for those officials and their families.

The Financial Blacklist and the Transparency Mandate

Think of this as a targeted financial intelligence operation, made public. Under Section 2, the Treasury Department must estimate the total money these officials control in financial institutions and list the institutions that hold those funds or provide significant services to the officials. Crucially, within 30 days of submitting the report to Congress, Treasury must brief lawmakers on how that money was obtained, specifically pointing out any illicit or corrupt methods. This isn't just about tracking assets; it’s about exposing how the money was made. Furthermore, the unclassified parts of this report must be made public on the Treasury’s website and social media, translated into Chinese and other languages, ensuring that the findings are accessible globally.

Cutting Off the Banking Ties

Section 3 hits where it hurts: the ability to use U.S. banks. Once an official is flagged in the report, U.S. financial institutions are generally forbidden from conducting significant business with that official and their immediate family members, provided the Secretary believes the family is benefiting from the questionable funds. The definition of “immediate family” is broad, including spouses, parents, children, siblings, and even in-laws. For U.S. banks and financial services firms, this means a new compliance burden and the potential loss of lucrative accounts, forcing them to quickly identify and sever ties with these individuals and their extended networks to avoid penalties under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

The Presidential Escape Hatch

While the bill sets up a strict framework, it includes significant safety valves that concentrate power in the Executive Branch. The entire reporting and prohibition scheme only kicks off if the President declares a threat. More importantly, the President has broad authority to waive any part of the reporting or the financial prohibitions (Section 2 and 3). These waivers can be granted if the President determines it would help end the threat, the threat is gone, or if the waiver is “essential for U.S. national security interests.” This means that even if an official is found to have illicitly acquired millions, the President can lift sanctions if that official agrees to cooperate on a national security matter. This creates a powerful, but subjective, tool for diplomatic leverage—or potentially a loophole if the power is used too broadly.

What This Means on the Ground

This Act is a sharp, targeted financial weapon aimed squarely at the wealth and influence of specific foreign officials, not broad trade restrictions. The bill explicitly states that the Treasury cannot use this authority to block the importation of physical goods. However, it does not prevent the blocking of technical data, which is explicitly excluded from the definition of a “good.” This legislation is less about affecting the price of goods at your local store and more about signaling to the global financial system that the U.S. is ready to expose and freeze the assets of the highest levels of the Chinese government if they take certain actions regarding Taiwan. For anyone working in finance, compliance, or international trade, this bill signals a new era of highly specific, politically charged financial risk management.