Reforming Us Export Controls Reforms PDF Download

The Institute for Science and International Security became interested in the results of President Obama's ECR Initiative in 2015, after hearing differing opinions about the impacts of the reforms. The reforms generated intense controversy among experts, officials, company officials, and practitioners who were involved in the initiative or had seen initial results regarding the control of proliferation-sensitive goods. The Institute decided to investigate the reforms and contact a wide range of officials and experts to better understand and assess the ECR Initiative. In Part I of this report, we explain the main elements of the ECR Initiative, including its goals, justification, intended impacts, and status. We also provide an overview of the U.S. export control system, including its licensing and enforcement functions. We describe how the ECR Initiative has impacted government functions more broadly based on preliminary data. Part II discusses the positive, negative, and neutral views of more than a dozen experts we interviewed about the effects of the reforms. In Part III we offer policy solutions for mitigating the potential threats identified in Parts I and II that may have been opened by the reforms. These solutions are aimed at better securing efforts to prevent the spread of proliferation-sensitive goods under a reformed U.S. export control system. We also suggest ways for the Trump administration and Congress to further implement and strengthen the reforms.