House Passes Bill to Control Items Related to Undersea Cables
The House unanimously passed a bill this week that could lead to new export controls on U.S. goods and technologies that China may be using to develop and support undersea communication cables. The Undersea Cable Control Act would require the State Department to create a “strategy” to “eliminate the availability to foreign adversaries of goods and technologies capable of supporting undersea cables,” and calls on the administration to establish “bilateral or plurilateral agreements” with allies to prevent China and other “adversaries” from acquiring these items.
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The bill also calls on the Commerce Department to “evaluate” goods that may be used in undersea cables for potential export controls, taking into account the “potential end uses and end users of the technology.” If the bill becomes law, the administration would have one year to begin submitting an annual report to Congress describing any export control actions taken, including the “rationale” for “adding or not adding” the items to the Commerce Control List.