Defending American Property Abroad Act of 2025

This bill addresses foreign governments' nationalization or expropriation of U.S. persons' property and expands trade law to include such actions as unreasonable or discriminatory practices. It requires identification of certain expropriated port property in Western Hemisphere free trade partner countries and imposes prohibitions on vessels that used that property, and it amends Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to treat expropriation of U.S. persons' assets as an unreasonable or discriminatory act.

Sec. 2, Identification and prohibitions with respect to property nationalized or expropriated by foreign governments: This section defines key terms, including 'covered foreign trade partner' as a Western Hemisphere country with a U.S. free trade agreement, and 'prohibited property' as any port, harbor, or marine terminal in such a country that is only accessible through land owned by a U.S. person if that land was nationalized, expropriated, or otherwise seized by the foreign government on or after January 1, 2024. Within 60 days of enactment, the Secretary of Homeland Security, with the Treasury and State Secretaries, must identify and designate all prohibited property, publish the list in the Federal Register, and provide it to relevant agencies and congressional committees. The President must then prohibit any vessel loaded or previously held at such prohibited property from importing goods into the U.S., releasing goods or passengers into the U.S., docking passenger vessels in the U.S., or conducting servicing or maintenance activities.

Sec. 3, Expansion of acts, policies, and practices that are unreasonable or discriminatory under title III of the Trade Act of 1974: This section amends Section 301(d)(3)(B) of the Trade Act of 1974 to add that an act, policy, or practice is unreasonable or discriminatory if it involves, with respect to a U.S. person's assets, direct or indirect expropriation or nationalization, arbitrary or capricious treatment, denial of due process, or nationality-based discrimination.