US Export Control Reform Initiative:Contradictory Half Measures

The focus of this paper is on the modern history of Sino-American high technology trade control, its vacillating nature, the intended and contradicting effectual conse-quences, and the most current trend towards liberalization of the U.S. Export Control Regime due to ineffectual implementation and foolhardy faith in the structure of the old regime. Though the reforms were originally brought on to increase national secu-rity, GNP, and the employment rate via streamlining of the license processes for ex-port of dual-use goods and widely available technology, while at the same time pro-tecting export of militarily sensitive goods and information, this paper argues that the newly implemented reforms seem to loosen export restrictions on not only traditional munitions and parts and components of the aerospace industry but also the knowledge and technology necessary to manufacture said parts. This paper contends that the cur-rent deregulation or movement to the CCL of the majority of the USML can only have negative consequences on global security and therefore U.S. national security. In ad-dition, allowing the knowledge to produce once-protected technology to be exported will lead to outsourcing of American jobs through increased offset agreements, lead-ing to a net loss in the job rate, together directly undermining each of the purported goals of the Export Control Reform Initiative (ECRI). This paper uses the export con-trol reform of the 90s regarding computers as a case analysis for current reform and offers policy suggestions to avoid export losses seen by the computer industry in America.