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Top Story
The following story is from the July 30 issue of International
Trade Reporter
Current Reports:
Export Controls
DOC's Locke Directs BIS to Undertake
Export Control Review to Improve System
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke July 22 said that he had identified five priorities to improve “trade fundamentals,”
including undertaking a review of export controls, and indicated that he had already directed the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS)
to undertake such a review.
Locke, who made his remarks at the Washington International Trade Association's annual dinner, said that the other priorities were enhancing trade promotion and support for U.S. exporters,
pursuing visa reform, strengthening international intellectual property protections, and promoting more intergovernmental cooperation in support of U.S. exporters.
Locke said he had instructed BIS to initiate a review of U.S. export controls focusing on improving the system by targeting controls at those state and non-state actors who would seek to harm the United States, while ensuring that the traditional control lists keep pace with technological developments, according to prepared remarks.
BIS was also asked to consider ways to make the system more responsive, transparent, and efficient to reflect the realities of the global marketplace, Locke said.
The current U.S. export control regime is challenging American businesses and American security, Locke said.
“Our export control system seeks to make us safer by preventing sensitive items from falling into the hands of those who seek to do us harm. But we must adapt to America's changing security needs without inhibiting the competitiveness of U.S. companies and institutions. That competitiveness is critical to our economic and national security,” Locke said.
Tools Left on the Shelf
While Commerce has an array of tools to help businesses at every point in the cycle, “too many of these tools are left on the shelf,” Locke said. This means that American businesses are missing out on viable opportunities in accessing foreign markets, he remarked.
“Ninety-seven percent of U.S. exporters are small and medium-size businesses, but they only account for 30 percent of export value. Meanwhile, of all the American businesses that export, 58 percent export to only one country. We can do a lot better,” Locke said.
Commerce's trade promotion office, staffed with some 1,500 people, including commercial service officers stationed all over the world, “is a potent asset for United States businesses that has a lot of untapped potential,” he said.
Locke said that many businesses do not know that Commerce offers this assistance and others do not want to navigate the bureaucracy. Last month, Commerce launched a “one-stop”
shop in Detroit providing a single point of contact for the full-spectrum of Commerce programs available to business owners. If successful, Commerce plans “to expand the centers and roll them out in metropolitan areas across the country,” Locke said.
The United States often makes it too difficult for foreign company executives to enter to do business and this shortcoming
has had a tangible cost for American businesses by shutting out some of their best customers, Locke said. For example, the Boeing Co. recently had to delay the delivery of a $250 million freighter because a Chinese aviation authority inspector failed to receive his visa on time. While the U.S. government has made some tentative progress on improving the situation, Locke said he had created an interagency task force with the State Department to improve the visa process while keeping national security paramount.
The commerce secretary also said that the current system for protecting U.S. intellectual property—both domestically and internationally—is “fraying at the seams.”
Every year U.S. firms lose between $200-$250 billion to counterfeiting and piracy. “That is simply unacceptable,” Locke said.
“There are a series of steps the Commerce Department can and will take to improve America's IP regime, from reforming the U.S. patent office to helping shape upcoming congressional intellectual property legislation. But fundamentally, our efforts need to begin with better enforcement,” Locke continued.
Commerce's Trade Agreements Compliance Program will play an important role in this monitoring and enforcement work, Locke said.
By Rossella Brevetti
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