[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2325 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2325
To withhold United States support for any action in the International
Monetary Fund relating to member states of the Central African Economic
Monetary Community until a determination as to gross foreign exchange
reserves is made.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 25, 2025
Mr. Huizenga (for himself and Mr. Meuser) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
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A BILL
To withhold United States support for any action in the International
Monetary Fund relating to member states of the Central African Economic
Monetary Community until a determination as to gross foreign exchange
reserves is made.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Central African Exploitation and
Manipulation of American Companies Act'' or the ``CEMAC Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds as follows:
(1) The member states of the Central African Economic
Monetary Community (CEMAC) hold significant oil and gas
reserves and have enjoyed decades long relationships and
investments with international oil companies (IOCs).
(2) In 2018, the central bank for CEMAC, the Bank of
Central African States (BEAC) introduced and intended to enact
a foreign exchange regulation that mandates extractive industry
companies repatriate restoration funds for site rehabilitation
to the BEAC.
(3) Significant progress has been made in mediated
dialogues over the last 7 years to rectify 23 issues with this
regulation raised by the IOCs. However, significant issues
remain including the refusal of BEAC to remove its sovereign
immunity from execution, the role of BEAC as custodian of
restoration fund accounts, and the implementation of double
jeopardy and material adverse change clauses.
(4) BEAC has imposed a completely arbitrary deadline of
April 30, 2025, for the IOCs to sign this agreement with
penalties equivalent to 150 percent of the restoration fund
starting May 1, 2025.
(5) Implementation of this regulation is expected to create
a lasting negative impact on oil and gas investment in the
Central African region, and will drastically compound an
already challenging investment environment.
(6) The member states of BEAC have indicated that these
restoration funds will help them shore up their foreign
exchange reserves, despite restoration funds being exclusively
allocated for restoration work costs and therefore not meeting
the criteria of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for
foreign exchange reserves.
(7) The IMF's Balance of Payments and International
Investment Position Manual states that assets must be ``readily
available'' and ``controlled'' by a country's monetary
authorities to count towards a country's foreign exchange
reserves.
(8) Oil and gas investments in the CEMAC region have been
declining since 2018 and this BEAC foreign exchange regulation
is expected to drastically accelerate this decline.
(9) Standard & Poor's estimates that the regulation by 2050
will result in a reduction of government revenue for CEMAC
member states of $86,000,000,000, and a reduction in capital
investment of $45,000,000,000 in the region.
(10) By refusing to clarify that these restoration funds
will not count towards gross foreign exchange reserves, the IMF
has misled the CEMAC member states and directly put tens of
billions of dollars of IOCs investment in the region at risk.
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States that--
(1) the presence of United States companies is a good thing
for the regions in which they invest;
(2) any funds provided to the Bank of Central African
States (in this Act referred to as ``BEAC'') by any extractive
industry company for site rehabilitation are ineligible to
count towards the gross foreign exchange reserves of a member
state of the Central African Economic Monetary Community (in
this Act referred to as ``CEMAC'') based on the requirements of
the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position
Manual of the International Monetary Fund (in this Act referred
to as the ``IMF'');
(3) the IMF has a responsibility to accurately clarify to
countries what are eligible and ineligible assets to count
towards the gross foreign exchange reserves of a country, so
that countries are able to create appropriate financial
policies; and
(4) the IMF would be responsible for the loss of investment
that the CEMAC region would face if a foreign exchange
regulation that mandates extractive industry companies
repatriate restoration funds for site rehabilitation to the
BEAC is enacted.
SEC. 4. WITHDRAWAL OF FUNDING.
(a) In General.--Until the Secretary of the Treasury, in
coordination with the United States Executive Director at the IMF and
the Secretary of State, makes the determination described in subsection
(b)--
(1) neither the President nor any person or agency shall,
on behalf of the United States, vote to approve any action by
the IMF relating to any CEMAC member state; and
(2) the Secretary of the Treasury shall direct the United
States Executive Director at the IMF to use the voice and vote
of the United States to oppose any proposal to--
(A) increase the quota in the IMF for any CEMAC
member state; or
(B) modify the exceptional access policy of the IMF
for any CEMAC member state.
(b) Determination.--The determination referred to in subsection (a)
is a determination that the IMF has publicly clarified that any funds
provided to BEAC by any international oil company for site
rehabilitation are ineligible to count towards the gross foreign
exchange reserves of any country.
(c) Publication.--On making the determination described in
subsection (b), the Secretary of the Treasury shall publicize the
determination and transmit a copy of the determination to the
appropriate congressional committees.
(d) Report.--No later than 30 days after the date the determination
described in subsection (b) is made, and no later than 180 days after
the enactment of this Act if the determination has, by then, not been
made, the Secretary of the Treasury shall provide to the appropriate
congressional committees a report that details the actions taken by the
United States Government at the International Monetary Fund, including
those by the United States Executive Director at the IMF, to have the
IMF publicly clarify that any funds provided to BEAC by any
international oil company for site rehabilitation are ineligible to
count towards the gross foreign exchange reserves of a country.
(e) Appropriate Congressional Committees.--In this section, the
term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(1) the Committee on Financial Services and the Committee
on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives; and
(2) the Committee on Finance and the Committee on Foreign
Relations of the Senate.
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