A peak American business group has complained Australia's new "foreign influence" laws will deprive its members of freedom of speech, while universities warn US Defence funding will be put at risk.
The Law Council of Australia said the proposed law would have a "chilling" effect on legitimate public debate.
Despite China being the apparent target of the Turnbull government's foreign influence bill, Beijing appeared not to have made any submissions as the deadline closed on Monday.
A wider backlash came from an unexpected quarter, with the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia saying it was concerned the law would stop it from holding events aimed at politicians.
Foreign business people and foreign companies operating in Australia "should have the same freedom to express a view" about federal government decisions as Australians do, wrote AmCham chief executive April Palmerlee.
AmCham would likely be required to register as a "foreign principal" under the law.
"Any event at which a Commonwealth public official or representative of a department, agency or authority of the Commonwealth is present and which a foreign individual attends with an intention to speak to the official or representative about a federal government decision could be taken to be a registrable activity.
"Amcham regularly organises events at which such activities take place," she wrote in the submission.
New laws 'stifle innovation'
The two peak universities groups called for the law to be delayed, and for an exemption for academic activities.
Group of Eight chief executive Vicki Thomson said the "hastily compiled" legislation would "severely limit" academics carrying out research.
Foreign funding of university projects included US Department of Defence funding for the University of Melbourne's research into brain-machine interfaces which could be used to help quadriplegics walk, the Group of Eight submission said.
Securing multiple sources of funding, which could include foreign funding, also often involved lobbying government agencies.
Universities Australia said the law would "stifle innovation".
"International collaborations are increasingly the most successful model for creating groundbreaking new research to tackle global challenges," said its submission. It referred to a "mega radio telescope" project, which is being jointly led by Australia, China and South Africa.
Government and education bodies around the world were frequently involved in research and it was "unsurprising that governments are almost invariably involved in developing partnerships that have any scale".
The United States Atlantic Philanthropies had invested more than $500 million in Australian research projects, Universities Australia said.
The Law Council wrote that the limits on freedom of expression in the bill, and penalties including a seven-year jail term, were unjustified.
It called for the bill to be amended because it was "contrary to Australia's open and democratic system of government'.
"It is conceivable that entirely benign community organisations such as those with cultural promotion or advancement objectives could fall within the proposed scheme when they engage with local parliamentarians," the Law Council wrote.
