Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, has introduced a bill aimed at strengthening export controls and ensuring that China doesn't acquire sensitive technology related to U.S. national security.
“The Commerce Department would never cut off corporations’ Communist Party cash. National security decisions shouldn’t be left to people who only count in dollars and cents, especially when China is involved,” Banks said in remarks provided to Commerce Newswire.
He said his bill is aimed at strengthening export controls and ensuring that China doesn’t acquire sensitive technology related to U.S. national security by transferring the responsibility of export control away from the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), which is part of the Department of Commerce. The Defense Technology and Security Administration (DTSA), which is part of the Department of Defense (DOD), would take over in these cases. Reps. Robb Wittman and Greg Steube are co-sponsors of the bill, which is titled the Prioritizing National Security in Export Controls Act.
Critics have accused the Commerce Department of prioritizing commercial interests over national security by approving almost all requests from China for technology and information related to semiconductors, aerospace, artificial intelligence and other materials, the Wall Street Journal reported. In 2020, the U.S. exported $125 billion worth of goods to China. Commerce Department officials required a license for less than one-half of 1% of those exports. Out of that .5%, the department approved 94% of the requests for technology transfers to China – 2,652 requests.
Steve Coonen, the former top China export-controls analyst at the Pentagon, said in 2021, “I have no problem trading with or feeding China. I have a huge problem with arming China.” He made the remark after resigning over the policy, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Critics expressed concerns that attempts to regulate or restrict the export-controls process will be pointless unless allies such as South Korea agree to enact the same policies. However, the process of aligning controls with allies could take years, and because of the blurred lines between China’s private and public sectors, there is no guarantee that any technology sent to China will not be utilized by the military, the Wall Street Journal article said.
Matt Pottinger, the deputy national security adviser to former President Donald Trump, said the Bureau of Industry and Security “has struggled to reconcile its mission to protect U.S. national security with the Commerce Department’s objective of promoting U.S. exports. The dilemma is most acute when it comes to China.”
