Business Groups Offer Guidance for Export Control Modernization
October 6, 2009Business groups comprising the Coalition for Security and Competitiveness (CSC) have sent Obama Administration officials a letter (PDF) outlining a set of principles and implementation objectives to guide the modernization of the U.S. export control system in ways that it claims will enhance both national security and U.S. competitiveness.
“We believe changes must be made to the current system to make sure it is aligned with our current security needs and the realities of the global technological environment, and, as a practical matter, operates in a more predictable, transparent, and efficient manner,” the CSC stated in the letter, which was sent to National Security Advisor James Jones, National Economic Advisor Lawrence Summers, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke.
The CSC recommended that modernization of U.S. export controls should achieve the following:
- Prevent proliferation of, and access to, the United States’ most sensitive and militarily critical technologies by current and potential adversaries;
- Promote defense cooperation, foreign sales, and interoperability with U.S. partners and allies, consistent with U.S. foreign policy and national security objectives;
- Support U.S. technological and scientific leadership, while leveraging the benefits of foreign technological innovation; and
- Strengthen U.S. competitiveness in global technology markets and preserve a cutting-edge industrial base, including a highly-skilled workforce.
In addition to outlining principles for modernization, the CSC also released a set of implementation objectives, which call for developing clear policy criteria and effective decision-making processes for identifying critical technologies whose protection is essential to U.S national security; implementing more efficient approaches to licensing in support of defense and national security programs important to the U.S. government; minimizing controls on items readily available in the global marketplace; rationalizing the export licensing system to reduce costs and administrative process times by ensuring clear lines of agency jurisdiction; and promoting a more effective system of multilateral controls through greater harmonization of controls with key trading partners, among other recommendations.
The letter was sent on behalf of the CSC’s member associations, which include the Aerospace Industries Association, the Association of American Exporters and Importers, The American League for Exports and Security Assistance, The Association for Manufacturing Technology, Business Roundtable, the Coalition for Employment Through Exports, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, the Industrial Fasteners Institute, the Information Technology Industry Council, the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Defense Industrial Association, the National Foreign Trade Council, the Satellite Industry Association, the Space Enterprise Council, the Space Foundation, TechAmerica and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
