On August 27, 2020, the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) released an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) (85 FR 52934) requesting public comments on potential controls for “foundational technologies.” This inquiry is based on the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (ECRA) which requires the Department of Commerce to establish controls on emerging and foundational technologies. The related inquiry for emerging technologies was published in November 2018.
As explained by the notice, “Foundational technologies essential to the national security are those that may warrant stricter controls if a present or potential application or capability of that technology poses a national security threat to the United States.” This is distinct from “critical technologies” and includes commodities and software, not merely “technology.” The inquiry does not seek to expand controls over “fundamental research” which is not subject to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) under §734.8.
In particular, BIS is looking at “items controlled only for anti-terrorism (AT), crime control (CC), or short supply (SS) reasons, subject to United Nations (UN) embargoes, or designated as EAR99.”
While the notice did not include a representative list for potential controls, it does raise several areas of concern:
- Items restricted for military end-users in China, Russia, or Venezuela under EAR Supplement No. 2. to part 744 “including semiconductor manufacturing equipment and associated software tools, lasers, sensors, and underwater systems… tied to indigenous military innovation efforts in China, Russia or Venezuela.”
- Items “being utilized or required for innovation in developing conventional weapons, enabling foreign intelligence collection activities, or weapons of mass destruction applications.”
- “Technologies that have been the subject of illicit procurement attempts which may demonstrate some level of dependency on U.S. technologies to further foreign military or intelligence capabilities in countries of concern or development of weapons of mass destruction”
The notice also presents eight questions about foundational technologies:
- How to further define foundational technology to assist in identification of such items;
- sources to identify such items;
- criteria to determine whether controlled items identified in AT level Export Control Classification Numbers (ECCNs), in whole or in part, or covered by EAR99 categories, for which a license is not required to countries subject to a U.S. arms embargo, are essential to U.S. national security;
- the status of development of foundational technologies in the United States and other countries;
- the impact specific foundational technology controls may have on the development of such technologies in the U.S.;
- examples of implementing controls based on end-use and/or end-user rather than, or in addition to, technology based controls;
- any enabling technologies, including tooling, testing, and certification equipment, that should be included within the scope of a foundational technology; and
- any other approaches to the issue of identifying foundational technologies important to U.S. national security, including the stage of development or maturity level of an foundational technology that would warrant consideration for export control.
Overall, items currently subject to the EAR, whether EAR99 or with controls that rarely require licenses, may be subject to additional restrictions as “foundational technologies.” This may be accomplished through country-specific controls on new and existing ECCNs as well as an expansion of or new rules in the style of the §744.21 restrictions on military end-users.
Comments will be accepted through October 26, 2020. Please refer to the Federal Register Notice for more information and how to submit comments.