Garden State Times

New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez has partnered with several Congressional colleagues to introduce the Inter-American Development Bank Transparency Act, which would require the Treasury Department to inform Congress of any coercive tactics by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and require the U.S. to use its influence to facilitate transparency at the IDB and reduce Chinese influence in Latin America.

“The IDB is our hemisphere’s preeminent multilateral development bank, and has long provided financing to accelerate inclusive economic growth and build much-needed infrastructure across the region," Menendez said July 25 in a release by the Select Committee on the CCP. "As the People’s Republic of China continues to use economic tools to advance its coercive economic agenda across the Western Hemisphere, it’s more important than ever that we protect the integrity of the IDB and ensure its critical work can continue unhampered by Beijing’s interference,” 

Headquartered in Washington, the (IDB) is the largest and foremost international financial institution serving Latin America and the Caribbean. In 2022, it allocated $23 billion toward financing sustainable economic and institutional development in the region, according to the release.

“By strengthening transparency at the IDB and denying support to projects that undermine U.S. national interests or those of our partners, this important bipartisan legislation will bolster our commitment to the IDB while assuring the global community that we’re combating efforts to exploit multilateral institutions," Menendez said in the release.

Despite the CCP's ownership of only 0.1% of shares in the bank, "the CCP is consistently ranked among the top countries awarded contracts by the IDB," the release explained. "The CCP has even used its economic leverage to pressure nations to bend to the Party’s will, notably pressuring IDB member Paraguay to abandon Taiwan in exchange for vaccines."

The proposed bill seeks to address this issue by aiming to put an end to CCP coercion and mandating Treasury reporting on several aspects, such as "whether the CCP exploits the IDB to extend its influence," the release said, making the use of CCP technology and influence subject to U.S. oversight, including export controls in IDB projects and "the extent of Chinese company influence and participation in IDB contracts" and more, according to the release.

“The Chinese Communist Party is increasingly utilizing the Inter-American Development Bank to expand its reach, influence, and economic leverage over Latin American countries,” California Rep. Jimmy Panetta, a co-sponsor of the bill, said in the release. “I’m proud to introduce this bipartisan legislation that would ensure the United States understands the full scope and scale of the CCP’s influence on the IDB and develop an action plan to counter potential malign actions.”

said New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, another co-sponsor, said the bill will protect U.S. funds.

"The critical bipartisan legislation we are introducing today will ensure U.S. taxpayer dollars are no longer funneled to CCP-controlled companies that undermine America’s interests and export the CCP’s oppressive surveillance capabilities in our own hemisphere," she said in the release.