Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) of the House Select Committee on China has voiced his support for President Trump's recent expansion of U.S. export controls. The new policy targets subsidiaries backed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in an effort to protect American technology and consumers.
"President Trump is putting America first and preventing CCP-tied entities from accessing U.S. technology through hiding their ownership in foreign front companies. As the Chairman of the Select Committee on China, I'll continue working to ensure Chinese firms cannot manipulate our export controls and undermine our national security interests," said Chairman Moolenaar.
Chairman Brian Mast of the House Foreign Affairs Committee also commented on the significance of these measures: “We are in a must-win, generation-defining battle shaping the future of technology. This critical measure bolsters U.S. national security and safeguards American technological leadership by closing loopholes that allow bad actors to evade restrictions and preventing them from accessing our sensitive technology. This commonsense move aligns the Commerce Department’s Entity List and Military End-User List rules with the Treasury Department’s sanctions rules. No longer will blacklisted companies be able to use subsidiaries to circumvent export controls. As adversaries like China and Russia attempt to exploit vulnerabilities, this is more important now than ever. The committee is working to codify President Trump’s decisive action.”
Earlier this year, President Trump issued his America First Trade Policy, directing federal agencies to review existing export control systems amid concerns about strategic adversaries.
The Department of Commerce's updated policy states that any entity at least 50% owned by one or more organizations listed on the Entity List will now face restrictions. The Entity List contains several Chinese companies identified as threats to U.S. national security, some of which have used previous loopholes in American regulations.
Jeffrey I. Kessler, Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security, addressed these changes: “For too long, loopholes have enabled exports that undermine American national security and foreign policy interests. Under this Administration, BIS is closing the loopholes and ensuring that export controls work as intended."
