BIS Export Admin Nominee Advances, Eyes Frequent Updates to Export Controls
The Senate Banking Committee voted 13-11 along party lines May 6 to approve Landon Heid to be assistant secretary of commerce for export administration, sending his nomination to the full Senate for consideration.
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Committee ranking member Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., criticized Heid for refusing to rule out lifting export controls aimed at Russia’s war machine.
In written answers to questions, Heid said he wants to speed up the pace of export control updates to ensure that restrictions remain relevant.
“The U.S. has been too slow to respond to changing technology trends and illicit acquisition efforts by our adversaries,” said Heid, whose answers were publicly released May 5. “Our controls should be updated frequently, with a steady focus towards staying ahead of our adversaries.”
Heid said he would “continually” evaluate China’s behavior in such sectors as semiconductors, quantum, biotechnology and aerospace. He also said he wants to ensure China doesn’t gain access to advanced U.S. AI technology “either through direct imports or remotely,” and he would seek to prevent China’s Huawei and other “concerning entities” from obtaining advanced U.S. chip technology.
Asked whether China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies should be added to the Bureau of Industry and Security’s Entity List and subjected to the foreign direct product rule, Heid said he would scrutinize Chinese firms that seek to gain access to advanced U.S. technology or make advances in AI-enabling technology.
Heid would engage with U.S. allies “directly, early and often” to align their export controls with U.S. restrictions, he said. While he believes imposing unilateral controls may be warranted when exports pose a national security threat, he would follow up on such action by engaging with “allies and partners to match our controls,” he added
To discourage allies and partners from “backfilling” U.S. export controls or increasing sales to companies the U.S. has placed on the Entity List or otherwise restricted, Heid said he favors considering a range of tools, including tariffs. Responding to a question about unauthorized re-exports of BIS-controlled items, he said he intends to explore ways to address the problem.
Heid, a former congressional staffer, was nominated for the Commerce Department position in February and provided oral testimony to the Banking Committee April 10 (see 2502120020 and 2504100036).