Commerce Official Addresses Concerns About Effort to Increase Restrictions on Exports to China
A top Commerce Department official tempered fears that the U.S. wants to stifle industry competitiveness (see 2003100044 and 2002180060) as it considers further restricting exports to Huawei and China, saying that is not the administration's goal. “Why would you restrict a U.S. company if you're only going to be enabling their competitor?” said Rich Ashooh, Commerce’s assistant secretary for export administration. “That’s a very important principle to engage in.”
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Ashooh, speaking during a Materials and Equipment Technical Advisory Committee meeting March 12, said the Commerce Department continues to discuss concepts such as foreign availability and the U.S.’s desire to become a leader in 5G as it considers further restricting exports to Huawei. Ashooh’s comments came after Trump administration officials again postponed an interagency meeting scheduled last week to discuss restrictions on foreign exports to Huawei of goods containing U.S.-controlled items (see 2003050041), according to a March 11 Reuters report. The meeting, which is expected to feature senior officials from the Commerce, State and Treasury departments, was originally scheduled for last month before being pushed back (see 2002050047). The meeting was rescheduled for next month, Reuters said. Commerce did not comment.
During the METAC meeting, Ashooh also spoke about the benefits and drawbacks of export controls, saying a more comprehensive foreign policy approach needs to be taken in order for the U.S. to become a global leader in 5G. “If the policy of the U.S. government, which it is, is to be a leader in 5G, export controls are important to that,” Ashooh said. “But if you’re keeping the conversation to export controls, you're not going to succeed.”
He added that export controls have increasingly become part of the administration's foreign policy. “I think the challenge we have that we'll be continuing is that export controls -- and I don’t know why this is and I don't know whether to feel good about it or not -- but they’ve become kind of the crucible for the consideration of really large policy matters,” Ashooh said. “Yes, we need a smart licensing policy. But at the end of the day, U.S. success has always been about stepping on the gas. Export controls [are] how you apply the brakes. We want to make sure we maintain that diversity of thought.”
As the coronavirus causes public events to be canceled -- including the Bureau of Industry and Security's Los Angeles conference in April (see 2003120045) -- Ashooh emphasized that he hopes the technical advisory meetings can continue. During a Transportation and Related Equipment Technical Advisory Committee meeting March 11, a majority of members called in to the meeting remotely. “In Commerce right now, we’re getting all types of guidance on meetings we can have, meetings we can't have,” Ashooh said. “These meetings are so very important. We simply cannot function effectively without the input of our TACs.”