Keeping China Off the Rails Act

Key Points

• This bill sets new manufacturing and content rules for railroad freight cars operating in the U.S. The goal is to block freight cars made by Chinese or other foreign adversary companies from running on American rail lines.
• The requirements phase in over four years. In year one, only cars built in the prior two years must comply. By year four, every single freight car in the country must meet the new standards, no matter when it was built.
• The phased rollout means railroads have time to audit their fleets and replace non-compliant cars. But after four years, no exceptions remain, which could force expensive fleet-wide replacements for companies that rely on foreign-made freight cars.
• The bill is bipartisan, introduced by Rep. Moolenaar and Rep. Gottheimer, and amends existing Section 20171 of title 49, which already contains some restrictions on freight car manufacturing. This bill expands those restrictions to cover a much wider range of cars over time.