How the US limits exports to hit China and Russia
The US is using export controls as a political weapon to hurt China and Russia. But the office that deals with these mechanisms does not receive enough funds. What the Csis report says
According to a recent report by the American think tank CSIS, written by Gregory Allen, Emily Benson and William Reinsch, the restrictions imposed by the United States on the sale of American technologies to hostile governments – the latest package, relating to semiconductors , was published in October – are needed to limit the threats posed by China and Russia.
THE PROTECTION OF NATIONAL SECURITY
According to the authors, export controls play an important role in protecting American national security.
For example, if Washington allows Beijing to use American software and machinery to develop and manufacture advanced microchips (it currently lacks the capabilities to do so itself, and is dependent on purchases from abroad), the People's Republic could end up acquiring missiles and highly sophisticated lasers, which it could use to threaten the United States.
MORE FUNDS AND STAFF TO BUREAU OF INDUSTRY AND SECURITY
However, Allen, Benson and Reinsch specify that the American agency that manages export control rules – the Bureau of Industry and Security, part of the Department of Commerce – needs more funds and more staff, otherwise it will fail to perform its function effectively.
Especially in the last three to five years, when former President Donald Trump started the tech-trade war with China, the Bureau of Industry and Security has seen a lot of workload. In addition to being understaffed on human resources, the agency needs better technology tools: it does much of its work using Google for research and Microsoft Excel to organize the data. The implementation of machine learning , for example, would guarantee a significant increase in productivity.
“At a time when the need for robust US export controls is more strategically critical than ever since the end of the Cold War,” the report reads, “the enabling technology of the Bureau of Industry and Security is in a terrible state. The cause is simple: decades of under-investment”.
EXPORT CONTROLS AS A FOREIGN POLICY TOOL
In addition to trying to prevent China, through trade isolation, from advancing its semiconductor sector (also necessary for artificial intelligence and supercomputers, two technologies that can be used in military fields), the United States is making it difficult for Russia to sourcing of critical components for the automotive, aviation and metal industries . Some weapons used by Russian forces in the invasion of Ukraine contain American – sourced electronic components .
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said restrictions on sales in Russia “proved that controls on technology exports can be more than just a preventive tool. If implemented robustly, sustainably and comprehensively, they can be a new strategic asset in the toolkit of the United States and allies to impose costs on adversaries and even degrade their battlefield capabilities over time.
BIDEN LIKE TRUMP?
Export controls are therefore playing an important role in Washington's foreign policy, whose main international adversaries are Beijing and Moscow.
“In recent years,” Allen explained to Axios , “the Trump and Biden administrations have both chosen to place technological competition at the center of national security policy, and have therefore chosen to make technological export controls one of the crucial tools of the national security policy of the United States".
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/stati-uniti-controlli-esportazioni-sicurezza-nazionale/ on Sun, 11 Dec 2022 07:29:21 +0000.