Trump Administration Reviewing Whether to Continue Export Control Reform
President Donald Trump's nominee for director of the Bureau of Industry and Security will be tasked with participating in the administration's review of whether export control reform (ECR) will continue for the remaining three U.S. Munitions List (USML) categories that haven’t been covered by that effort. A Commerce Department spokesman said that administration officials are evaluating whether to transfer items to the CCL from USML Categories I (firearms, close assault weapons, and combat shotguns), II (guns and armament) and III (ammunition/ordnance), the final USML categories that haven’t undergone ECR. Started in 2010 by the Obama administration, ECR has shifted several items to the CCL from other USML categories.
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There’s still a “vigorous export control enforcement process” to police items moved to the CCL from the USML, Mira Ricardel, Trump’s nominee for director of the BIS, told members of the Senate Banking Committee during her May 16 confirmation hearing. She said she was aware that several USML items have been transferred to the CCL, adding that while dual-use goods are “often challenging,” the application of export controls to end-users, as well as end-uses, provide an extra level of security.
Ricardel told the committee she will divest any assets that could pose a conflict of interest, if confirmed. Responding to a question by Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., about the impacts of confirmation delays on executive agencies, Ricardel said that when agencies have acting directors, policymaking tends to not move forward, and that confirming executive appointees is important so that agency personnel gain a clearer sense of what policy actions to pursue. Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, urged his colleagues to confirm Ricardel “without delay,” and Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., voiced his support as well. A committee spokeswoman said the panel would likely vote on May 23 on whether to clear Ricardel’s nomination for full Senate consideration. Ricardel’s responses to senators’ questions for the record are due on May 22, she said.
Ricardel said if confirmed, she would assess whether BIS has adequate resources to fulfill its core functions of preventing exports of sensitive items to terrorists, and to protect critical U.S. technologies and competitiveness. She also expressed an intention to consult with the committee on its areas of concern. “If confirmed, I will act vigorously to enforce U.S. export controls, embargoes and sanctions, as well as continuously promote and advance policies that support U.S. industries and technologies and the American workers who are the foundation of our industrial base,” Ricardel said in written testimony (here).