White House high on high-tech trade with India

White House high on high-tech trade with India    A senior U.S. Commerce Department official told attendees at the U.S.-India High Technology Cooperation Group meeting in New Delhi earlier this week that the Obama administration remains committed to reducing burdens on exports controls for trade with India.
   Last November, the U.S. and Indian governments committed to work together to strengthen the global export control framework and further transform bilateral export control regulations and policies.
   Earlier this year, Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security, which administers the U.S. export control system for 'dual-use' items — those with recognized civilian and military uses — took the first step toward implementing the 2010 bilateral understanding by removing all Indian space and defense-related entities from its 'Entity List' and beginning to realign U.S. export controls to reflect India's status as a strategic partner.
   'This positive step will help facilitate trade in the civil space, defense, and high technology items,' said Eric L. Hirschhorn, Commerce's undersecretary for industry and security, in prepared remarks. 'It also highlights our deep commitment to the U.S. partnership with India and strengthens our mutual nonproliferation efforts.'

Hirschhorn

   In June, BIS published a new regulation that takes the initial step to implement President Obama's Export Control Reform Initiative by adding a new license exception to the Export Administration Regulations — license exception Strategic Trade Authorization. STA authorizes the export, re-export, and in-country transfer of specified national security-controlled items to destinations that pose a low risk of diversion — including India.
   'In effect, the new regulation treats India similarly to our closest allies and partners and will expand high technology cooperation,' Hirschhorn said. 'We expect that many U.S. exporters of high technology products — including equipment for the manufacturing of semiconductor devices, polymers, organic compounds, and general purpose electrical equipment — and their customers in India will benefit from these new procedures.'
   U.S. export controls affect only a small portion of overall trade with India in dual-use items. The Commerce Department estimates that licenses are required for less than 1 percent of all U.S. exports to India.
   Hirschhorn said so far this year BIS has approved 389 license applications for controlled technologies valued at about $5.1 billion. 99 percent of the items that required a license for export to India have been approved.
   'Importantly, an export license requirement does not preclude trade in a controlled technology. Many of the most sophisticated technologies — for example, those controlled for missile technology reasons — have a global license requirement,' he said.
   'Yet, I recognize that although export controls touch only a small portion of U.S. trade with India, the industry sectors most affected by export controls are an important and high-profile component of the trade relationship — defense, commercial space, civil nuclear, high technology and homeland security, to name a few,' Hirschhorn added. ' Eric Johnson