This bill significantly increases federal penalties for economic espionage and mishandling defense information when committed to benefit a foreign adversary.
Pat Harrigan
Representative
NC-10
The Foreign Adversary Federal Offense Act of 2025 significantly increases penalties for economic espionage and the mishandling of defense information when committed to benefit a "covered nation." This bill establishes new minimum prison sentences, higher fines for both individuals and organizations, and removes supervised release eligibility for these specific offenses. It also clarifies that espionage causing severe harm to critical infrastructure falls under the strictest penalties.
New Espionage Act Mandates 10-Year Minimum Prison Terms, Eliminates Parole for Aiding Foreign Adversaries
The Foreign Adversary Federal Offense Act of 2025 is here to significantly ratchet up the penalties for anyone caught committing economic espionage or mishandling defense information if the crime was done to benefit a “covered nation.” Think of this as the government drawing a very hard line in the sand regarding intellectual property theft and national secrets.
The New Math of Economic Espionage
If you’re caught stealing trade secrets or committing economic espionage (under 18 U.S.C. § 1831) to benefit a foreign adversary, the consequences are about to get dramatically worse. For individuals, this bill establishes a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 10 years, potentially up to 15 years, and fines up to $5 million. The key change here, laid out in Section 2, is that convicted individuals will be ineligible for supervised release—meaning they serve the full sentence behind bars, no parole.
If the espionage causes “severe harm” to national or economic security—defined specifically as compromising critical infrastructure (like power grids or water systems) to the point where it risks a complete shutdown—the maximum sentence jumps to 20 years. For organizations, the fines are equally staggering: the greater of $20 million or five times the value of the stolen trade secret. If a company manages to steal a secret worth $100 million, they’re looking at a half-billion-dollar fine. That’s a serious deterrent aimed squarely at corporate espionage.
Life Sentences for Mishandling Secrets
Section 3 takes aim at those who mishandle defense information (under 18 U.S.C. § 793, the law commonly associated with espionage cases) for the benefit of a “covered nation.” Currently, that offense carries a maximum of 10 years. Under this bill, if the violation was done to help a covered nation, the minimum sentence skyrockets to 15 years, and the maximum penalty becomes life imprisonment, in addition to fines. This is a massive shift, moving the floor and ceiling of punishment into extreme territory.
The Ambiguous Adversary
While the goal of protecting national security and trade secrets is clear, the implementation raises some questions, primarily due to the repeated use of the term “covered nation.” The bill text provided here doesn't define which countries qualify as a “covered nation.” This is a critical detail because the entire severity of the new penalties—the mandatory minimums, the elimination of supervised release, and the potential life sentences—hinges entirely on whether the offense benefited one of these undefined nations. This lack of clarity gives prosecutors considerable power and could lead to uncertainty in the application of these extremely harsh sentences.
In short, this bill is less about redefining the crime and entirely about redefining the punishment. It eliminates judicial flexibility in sentencing, mandates long prison terms, and introduces the possibility of life in prison for offenses involving defense information, signaling a zero-tolerance policy for those who aid foreign adversaries in stealing U.S. secrets.