Impeding MCF Through STCs | DFOP0017371

Opportunity Information: Apply for DFOP0017371

The grant opportunity titled "Impeding MCF Through STCs" (Funding Opportunity Number DFOP0017371) is a U.S. Department of State program administered by the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation. It is a discretionary funding opportunity offered through a cooperative agreement, meaning the government expects to stay actively involved in shaping, coordinating, or overseeing project activities rather than simply providing funds and stepping back. The overall purpose is to help both governments and the private sector take more effective, practical steps to prevent advanced technologies from being acquired by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated actors in ways that could support military modernization and broader technological and economic dominance objectives.

At the core of the program is a focus on stopping the transfer or diversion of "weaponizable" and dual-use technologies, especially those that are critical to modern defense and strategic competition. The opportunity emphasizes engaging with key economies that sit within global supply chains for sensitive technologies. In practice, this points to work such as building relationships, running capacity-building programs, providing technical assistance, and strengthening policies and procedures among relevant authorities in those economies so they can better detect, control, and disrupt illicit or high-risk technology flows.

A central tool referenced in the opportunity is the use of STCs, along with related measures. While the notice does not define the acronym in the text provided, it clearly frames STCs as mechanisms that authorities can use to prevent or impede the CCP and its affiliates from acquiring sensitive technologies. The program is designed to strengthen the ability of partners to apply these tools effectively across a range of critical technology areas, suggesting a combination of regulatory, compliance, enforcement, and cross-border coordination activities tailored to supply chain realities.

The scope is not limited to government stakeholders. A major component is direct engagement with private sector and other relevant entities that develop or produce some of the most strategically important technologies today. The opportunity explicitly calls out artificial intelligence models, advanced semiconductors, and quantum information science and technology, along with related technologies. The intent is to improve how companies, research organizations, and other technology holders identify risk and mitigate it, particularly the risk of acquisition, transfer, or infiltration by actors affiliated with the CCP. This can reasonably include improving internal screening and due diligence practices, strengthening end-use and end-user risk analysis, tightening partner and customer vetting, raising awareness of common procurement and diversion tactics, and improving coordination between industry and government on threat indicators and compliance expectations.

Funding details indicate a sizable program with an award ceiling of $5,919,000 and an expectation of two total awards, implying potentially large, multi-country or multi-stakeholder efforts rather than small pilot projects. The original closing date is listed as 2025-08-06, and the opportunity was created on 2025-07-24. The assistance listing references CFDA number 19.901, which aligns with international security and nonproliferation-related programming.

Eligibility is broad and includes domestic non-federal entities such as state and local governments, federally recognized tribes, institutions of higher education, and nonprofit organizations. It also allows foreign nonprofit organizations, foreign public entities (including foreign public international organizations), and both domestic and foreign for-profit organizations, with the important condition that for-profits must waive any fee or profit. In effect, this structure encourages applications from universities and research institutions with technical expertise, nonprofits with policy and capacity-building experience, and specialized implementers that can operate internationally and convene both regulators and industry, while still allowing private firms to participate if they do so on a no-profit basis.

Taken together, this opportunity is aimed at building durable, real-world capability among partner authorities and technology developers to prevent sensitive technology leakage to CCP-linked actors, particularly in fields like AI, advanced chips, and quantum where supply chains are complex, commercial incentives are strong, and national security risks can be high. The program’s design signals that the government is looking for implementers who can operate at the intersection of international engagement, export and transfer risk reduction, supply chain protection, and private sector compliance, with measurable improvements in how partners and companies detect and block high-risk acquisition pathways.

• The Bureau of International Security-Nonproliferation in the other sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Impeding MCF Through STCs" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 19.901.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2025-07-24.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-08-06. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $5,919,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 2 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for DFOP0017371

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