U.S. Representative Michael Baumgartner (R-WA) has drawn attention for introducing the "No Racketeers on Our Shores Act" (H.R. 9834).

In a press release issued on Thursday the 23rd, Rep. Baumgartner stated, "Foreign public officials who abuse their government authority to discriminate against U.S. companies may be denied entry into the United States."

Rep. Baumgartner remarked, "U.S. companies should compete in overseas markets based on the competitiveness of their products, rather than fighting against foreign bureaucrats who seek to undermine a level playing field." He added, "There is a concerning global trend where foreign governments impose selective investigations, punitive fines, discriminatory taxes, and regulatory mandates that are overwhelmingly levied only against U.S.-owned companies."

The bill is intended to address this growing global pattern identified by the House Judiciary Committee, in which foreign governments use coercive state power to target successful U.S.-owned firms while shielding their own favored domestic competitors.

Rep. Baumgartner included South Korea as a key example, stating, "In South Korea, authorities have subjected the U.S.-based company Coupang to dozens of investigations and thousands of document requests, and imposed the largest fine in its history (approximately $410 million)."

In Europe, regulatory authorities have imposed fines exceeding $1 billion on Google under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) regarding how it displays its own services in search results and operates the Play Store. This is part of a regulatory framework that backs fines of up to 10% of global annual turnover, or up to 20% for repeat offenses.

In Brazil, authorities are pursuing legislation similar to the DMA that would impose special restrictions on overwhelmingly large U.S.-based technology platforms. 

Baumgartner added, "While congressional oversight, diplomatic directives, and bilateral cooperation remain important tools, they are often insufficient. Conversely, formal investigations by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) or the renegotiation of trade agreements are significant measures with wide-ranging economic and diplomatic repercussions." He continued, "This bill adds a new tier to the staged sanctions regime. Foreign public officials who personally abuse government authority to discriminate against Americans should not expect the privilege of visiting or staying in the United States." 

The key provisions of the bill are as follows;

- Amends the 'Immigration and Nationality Act' to designate foreign government officials who engage in economic discrimination against Americans as inadmissible to the U.S. and subject to deportation if present in the country;

- Focuses on discriminatory government actions while not penalizing legitimate and fair regulation; 

- Imposes targeted diplomatic sanctions on individual decision-makers.

However, the bill, which was introduced to the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday the 22nd, currently has no co-sponsors, and its chances of passing within this legislative session appear slim.

The federal Congress has recently raised its voice in criticizing the South Korean government's excessive actions and discriminatory behavior toward U.S. companies.

In a letter sent to then-South Korean Ambassador to the U.S. Cho Hyun-dong this past April, 54 Republican lawmakers stated that "the South Korean government is taking discriminatory and politically motivated measures against U.S. companies." In the letter, the lawmakers cited the review of Coupang's business suspension, the raid on its Seoul office, fines, and tax audits as examples of discriminatory regulation against the company.

Furthermore, an interim report recently released by the House Judiciary Committee described the Coupang case as an instance where the South Korean government abused the enforcement of law in a discriminatory manner against a U.S. company and U.S. citizens.

The South Korean government has pushed back against these claims by the federal Congress, asserting that they are untrue and that the U.S. side has only accepted the one-sided arguments of Coupang. 

Rep. Baumgartner is known to be a leading figure within the Republican party in raising issues regarding the South Korean government's treatment of Coupang. The fact that he is one of only two Republican representatives who serve on both the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Judiciary Committee suggests that his introduction of this bill is not coincidental. The other representative is Darrell Issa (R-CA), who led the group letter sent in April.

Meanwhile, it was reported via LegiStorm on the 23rd that Jake Parker, who served as a senior advisor for tax and trade policy for Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), has moved to Coupang as a Director of Global Government Affairs.

Parker led Senator Cassidy's work on trade, tariff modernization, tax policy, and economic security, and supported matters central to the Senator's agenda on the Senate Finance Committee. Previously, he worked for over two years as a senior professional staff member on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, focusing on U.S.-China economic competition, trade, and supply chains for critical minerals, batteries, and magnets. 

He joined Senator Cassidy’s office in 2022 after completing a Congressional Technology Fellowship. Before working in Congress, he spent nine years at the U.S.-China Business Council.

In addition to Parker, other directors at Coupang include lobbyist Ari M. Zimmerman, who worked as a congressional aide and on the Armed Services Committee from 2011 to 2019; William B. Anaya, who has been a lobbyist since 2001; and Jason Park, who served for many years in the House and Senate.

Coupang's congressional lobbying records date back to 2021, with lobbying expenditures peaking at $2.75 million in 2024, dropping significantly to $1.13 million in 2025, and totaling $710,000 as of the second quarter of 2026.

The scope of their lobbying has been diverse; in the second quarter of this year, they reported engagement with the National Security Council (NSC), the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), and the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, State, and Treasury, as well as the House and Senate and the Small Business Administration. In the first quarter, they reported lobbying the USTR and the Executive Office of the President.

U.S. NNP = Representative Journalist Sung Ku Hong / Special Correspondent NNP info@newsandpost.com