Amending the Treatment of Defense Production Enterprises Under the U.S. Exon-Florio Provision: A Move Toward Protectionism or Globalism

Discusses the Exon-Florio Provision of the Omnibus Trade & Competitiveness Act. It gives the President of the United States the power to prohibit or to prevent on a temporary basis a non-U.S. corporation from merging with or acquiring a U.S. corporation when the transaction could potentially impair U.S. national security. The Note examines U.S. legislation that regulates direct investment and argues that the U.S. Congress should amend Exon-Florio in order to focus and strengthen the Provision\u27s application to transactions involving U.S. defense production companies. Part I of this Note sets forth the existing procedural and administrative requirements of Exon-Florio and explains several modifications to the Provision that Congress has recently enacted. Part II outlines additional proposed modifications to Exon-Florio that have been presented before Congress and considers such proposals with respect to a recent case involving the Provision. Part III argues that Congress should amend Exon-Florio in order to focus and confine the Provision\u27s application to national defense. This Note concludes that such modifications would be justifiable because they would define national defense as a narrow exception to the traditional U.S. globalist trade policy and, consequently, benefit all those involved in international mergers, acquisitions and takeovers in the United States