House Bill Could Transfer Export Control Authority to DOD
A Republican-backed bill introduced in the House could lead to the transfer of export control authorities from the Commerce Department to the Defense Department. The bill, introduced Oct. 28 by Reps. Jim Banks, R-Ind., Rob Wittman, R-Va., and Greg Steube, R-Fla., includes language critical of the Bureau of Industry and Security, saying the agency has made “little progress” in controlling emerging and foundational technologies under the Export Control Reform Act and that BIS’s export control authorities should be revoked.
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If the bill becomes law, those authorities would move to DOD’s Defense Technology and Security Administration and would block certain BIS officials from moving to DOD. “No individual employed in a Senior Executive Service position related to export control in Department of Commerce, including the Bureau of Industry and Security, may be permitted to transfer from such position to a position in the Defense Technology and Security Administration of the Department of Defense,” the bill said.
It also said BIS “has shown itself inept to reconcile its mission to protect United States national security with its objective of promoting United States exports to high-risk countries, especially China.” The bill referenced findings released last year by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which showed BIS approved more than a combined $100 billion worth of export licenses for shipments to Huawei and Chinese top chipmaker SMIC from Nov. 9, 2020, through April 20, 2021 (see 2110210073). But Commerce said those numbers were misleading and didn’t reflect pending applications set to be denied (see 2110220037).
The bill also said Commerce’s Entity List has “only 70 Chinese entities," but, in fact, the Entity List has hundreds of Chinese entities. A spokesperson for Rep. Banks said the sentence was a "clerical error" and was meant to refer to Commerce's Military End-User List, not the Entity List.
A BIS spokesperson said the agency is "focused on aggressively and appropriately using our tools to contend with the long-term strategic competition with" China and is "engaged in an ongoing review of our export control policies toward" China, which has so far resulted in a sweeping set of restrictions against China's ability to acquire advanced computing chips and manufacture advanced semiconductors (see 2210070049). The spokesperson also noted that BIS has imposed controls on 38 emerging technologies since ECRA became law and is "in the process of finalizing multilateral controls" on four more technologies.
In addition, the Defense Department already has input on export licensing applications to China, the spokesperson said, along with the State Department, the Energy Department and others. "BIS welcomes the opportunity to engage with Congress on ways to address our shared goals of protecting U.S. national security and foreign policy interests, and advancing U.S. technological leadership in the context of our long-term strategic competition with the PRC," the spokesperson said.