Democratic Lawmakers Fear BIS Will Harm Export Controls by Cutting Consultations With Allies
Four Democratic lawmakers said this week that the Bureau of Industry and Security’s plans to pull back from traditional export control dialogues with allies, including the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council, will reduce international collaboration and make it harder to keep sensitive technology out of the hands of China.
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Their comments came in response to Jeffrey Kessler, the new head of BIS, who said March 27 that he intends to eschew time-consuming formal talks with allies and instead tell them what kinds of restrictions he wants them to impose (see 2503280039).
House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y.; Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., a senior member of the Senate Banking Committee; Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., ranking member of the Senate Banking Subcommittee on National Security and International Trade and Finance; and Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., ranking member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science, all criticized Kessler's approach in statements.
“We need greater cooperation with partners on export controls, not less,” Meeks said. “Bullying partners to adopt controls, while hitting them with [the Trump administration’s new] tariffs, is not only going to fail, it will also make it harder to get partners to work with us on China more broadly. The result will be unilateral controls that unduly harms American jobs and are ineffective at constraining China.”
Warner said it is “deeply concerning that this administration is taking steps to disengage from cooperative arrangements with our allies and partners with seemingly little thought for how to do the necessary coalition-building that is needed to actually keep the most advanced technology out of the hands of our adversaries. This administration cannot default to blustering and bullying our allies and expect to be effective, all while the [People’s Republic of China] continues to make enormous advances on semiconductor indigenization andillicit procurement of advanced U.S. chips.”
Kim said the “U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council has been a crucial tool to boost America’s competitiveness and work with partners to define the rules of the road for new technologies. By walking back from this commitment to collaborate with our closest allies, the Trump administration hands its promise of economic opportunity and security right to China and other competitors.”
Meng also defended the council. “By walking away, the administration is undermining our ability to work with allies on strategically restricting the flow of sensitive technologies to bad actors and unnecessarily weakening yet another national security partnership,” she said. “Without coordination, we risk incompatible policies that create security gaps or unnecessarily hinder American businesses.”
Several Republican lawmakers didn't respond to requests for comment on Kessler’s remarks.