Two Republican lawmakers in Washington on 3 June 2025 introduced fresh legislation to counter China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), arguing that Beijing is weaponising infrastructure financing and overseas investment to expand its strategic footprint. Congressman Scott Fitzgerald of Wisconsin and Congressman Zach Nunn of Iowa unveiled the Thwarting Regional Adversary Investments Now (TRAIN) Act and the Build Responsible Infrastructure Development for the Global Economy (BRIDGE) Act on Tuesday.

What the two bills propose

The TRAIN Act would direct the US State Department to help non-adversarial partner governments analyse and mitigate the legal and financial risks of accepting loans or investment from China and other foreign adversaries, according to Fitzgerald's office. The aim, the lawmakers said, is to help countries evaluate long-term implications of infrastructure financing before signing on.

The BRIDGE Act would formally establish it as US policy to counter what the legislation describes as Beijing's effort to build an integrated economic and political order under the Chinese Communist Party. The Secretary of State, working with the Secretary of Commerce, the US International Development Finance Corporation and other agencies, would have to submit a report to Congress within 180 days assessing how the BRI advances Beijing's global objectives.

What the lawmakers said

‘China has turned the Belt and Road Initiative into a weapon of economic coercion, building leverage through debt, controlling critical infrastructure, and pulling countries deeper into Beijing's orbit,' Fitzgerald said. He added that the TRAIN Act helps countries ‘avoid walking into those traps in the first place,' while the BRIDGE Act positions the United States to respond.

Nunn framed the issue around domestic economic stakes. ‘China has spent decades buying up the ports, power grids, and trade routes of developing nations, trapping them in debt and rigging the global market in their favor,' he said, arguing that Iowa's farmers and manufacturers cannot compete on ‘a field Beijing is tilting in their own favor.'

The scale of the BRI

According to figures cited by Fitzgerald's office, more than 150 countries and 32 international organisations have signed cooperation documents linked to the BRI since its 2013 launch, spanning sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, Central Asia, and the Asia-Pacific. BRI engagement in 2025 reportedly reached an estimated $213.5 billion in construction contracts and investments, with cumulative engagement since 2013 approaching $1.4 trillion.

Why it matters

The bills land amid an intensifying debate in Washington over how to blunt China's economic reach in the Global South. The US and its allies have been promoting alternative financing channels, including the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment and projects backed by the US International Development Finance Corporation, to offer developing countries options outside Beijing-backed deals.

What's next

The lawmakers said the TRAIN and BRIDGE Acts form part of a broader legislative push, with additional China-focused measures expected in the coming days. Whether either bill advances will depend on bipartisan traction in a closely divided Congress.