CFIUS has identified Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom as the initial excepted foreign states and excepted real estate foreign states. CFIUS identified these countries due to certain aspects of their robust intelligence-sharing and defense industrial base integration mechanisms with the United States.
In January 2022, CFIUS identified New Zealand as an eligible foreign state for the purposes of the excepted foreign state and excepted real estate foreign state definitions for reasons including New Zealand's intelligence-sharing relationship with the United States and its collective defense arrangement and cooperation with the United States.
As the excepted foreign state concept has significant implications for the national security of the United States, the Committee continues to identify a limited number of eligible foreign states and may expand the list in the future.