To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to repeal certain disclosure requirements related to conflict minerals, and for other purposes.
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The bill would repeal the requirement that publicly traded companies disclose whether their products contain tin, tungsten, tantalum, or gold sourced from conflict zones in and around the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
It would eliminate a Dodd-Frank-era due-diligence and reporting regime meant to discourage companies from indirectly funding armed groups through mineral purchases, ending a disclosure requirement that manufacturers have long said is costly to comply with.
What this bill would do
What it would do
The bill would repeal subsection (p) of section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which currently requires publicly traded companies to annually disclose whether tin, tungsten, tantalum, or gold necessary to their products originated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or adjoining countries, and to conduct due diligence on whether those minerals financed armed groups there. It would also strike the underlying conflict-minerals provision, section 1502, from the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, along with its entry in that Act's table of contents. The bill does not create any replacement disclosure or due-diligence requirement; it simply eliminates the existing one.
Key provisions
- 1Would repeal subsection (p) of section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, ending the conflict-minerals disclosure requirement for publicly traded companies
- 2Would strike section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the statutory basis for the conflict-minerals rule
- 3Would remove the corresponding entry for section 1502 from Dodd-Frank's table of contents
Who would be affected
Publicly traded manufacturing companies that currently must report on conflict minerals in their supply chains, the Securities and Exchange Commission which administers the disclosure rule, and companies further down the supply chain, such as smelters and mineral processors, that respond to due-diligence requests from those manufacturers.
Why it matters
Companies would no longer have to spend money and staff time tracing mineral supply chains or filing annual conflict-minerals reports with the SEC. Advocacy groups and some investors who use the disclosures to assess ties to armed conflict in central Africa would lose that source of information.
What would change
Changes to existing law
Repeals Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. 78m(p) (Sec. 1(a))
Eliminates the requirement that public companies disclose use of conflict minerals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo region
Repeals Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Section 1502 (Sec. 1(b))
Strikes the conflict-minerals provision and its table-of-contents entry, removing the statutory basis for the SEC disclosure rule
Agencies directed to act
Funding and costs
Congressional Budget Office estimate
CBO estimates H.R. 7085 would have no significant effect on the federal deficit, with zero impact on direct spending or revenues over the 2026–2036 period.
H.R. 7085 would repeal the requirement that SEC-registered companies using conflict minerals (minerals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo region linked to armed conflict) report annually to the Securities and Exchange Commission. CBO estimates the bill would reduce the SEC's costs by an insignificant amount each year; because the SEC is authorized to collect fees to offset its appropriation, the net effect on discretionary spending (funding that Congress approves annually) over 2026–2031 would be negligible. Removing related reporting requirements for the Department of Commerce, the Government Accountability Office, and the State Department would decrease their costs by less than $500,000, and any such savings would require a corresponding reduction in appropriated amounts. CBO found no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates in the bill.
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 481.
Official CRS summary
Show the CRS summaryHide the CRS summary
This bill repeals reporting requirements related to the use of certain minerals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the surrounding area by publicly traded companies.
Currently, publicly traded companies must annually make disclosures if certain minerals (tin, tungsten, tantalum, or gold) are necessary to the functionality or production of a product manufactured by the company. As part of the reporting process, companies must determine if such minerals are from the DRC or the surrounding area and exercise due diligence to determine if the minerals are DRC conflict free, not found to be DRC conflict free, or are unable to be classified. (DRC conflict free means the minerals do not finance or benefit armed groups in the DRC or an adjoining country.)
Legislative subjects
Administrative law and regulatory procedures; Business records; Conflicts and wars; Finance and Financial Sector; Metals; Mining; Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Committee report
H. Rept. 119-560