International TradeNewsletter - April 12, 2002
In this Issue...
Export Administration Act Reauthorization Update
April 12, 2002
- Staff-level negotiations between House leadership and the White
House are underway to reach a compromise on a bill to reform the export control
system. However, minimal agreement exists on the three existing bills to renew
the Export Administration Act. Discussions have so far focused on the version
passed by the House International Relations Committee. That bill was based on
the Senate-passed version, but added 30 amendments disagreeable to the
technology sector. While the Administration supports the Senate version, little
attention has been given to the version recently passed by the House Armed
Services Committee. A decision on how to proceed may not come until May. One
of the outstanding issues is whether the Commerce or State Department should
assume responsibility for licensing on exports of commercial communications
satellites. (See related story in this issue of Trade Alert.) The
goal of the parties is to get the best deal possible in negotiations and then
set up a strategy to introduce a bill on the floor of the House. There must be
decisions made about which text to use, what standing to give to the deal that
was made, whether legislators want to add to it, and how many amendments to
allow. It is possible, for instance, that the Senate version could be offered as
an amendment on the floor. Industry groups remain concerned that the resulting
legislation will be unacceptable to them.
- High-level discussions are underway in the Bush Administration to
discuss the Administration’s position on the status of commercial satellite
exports in the export control system. Communications satellites are included on
the U.S. Munitions List and are, therefore, subject to the more stringent export
licensing procedures of the Department of State. They were removed from the
jurisdiction of the Department of Commerce following Congressional uproar over
satellite launches in China in the mid-1990s. Industry officials are hopeful that the Administration will
decide to request that export jurisdiction return to the Department of
Commerce. A likely vehicle for the change would be legislation reauthorizing
the Export Administration Act (EAA), which is currently being discussed in
Congress. The Administration’s support for the Senate version of the bill,
which is silent on the issue of satellite exports, adds another issue to the
negotiations regarding passage of the bill. Inclusion of export licensing of
satellite systems within the EAA would remove the more onerous licensing
procedures to which the export of satellites are currently subjected.