COMMERCE AGENCY CLAIMS GAIN IN EASING LICENSING BACKLOG FOR HIGH-TECH GOODS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000403650003-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 12, 2012
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: March 25, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

S.A Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/12 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000403650003-4
ARTICLE APPEARED
WALL STREET JOURNAL
25 March 1985
Commerce Agency Claims Gain in Easing
Licensing Backlog for High-Tech Goods
By EDUARDO LACHICA
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
WASHINGTON - The Commerce De-
partment is expected to tell Congress this
week that it is catching up with a licensing
backlog that has delayed shipment of
American high-technology products to for-
eign buyers.
But the newly computerized export-li-
censing operation still has to buck the tide
of Pentagon resistance to proposals to free
certain products from controls, as a way to
lighten the licensing load.
In testimony to be submitted to Con-
gress Wednesday, William Archey, assis-
tant secretary of commerce and trade ad-
ministration, will report that computer
handling of licensing has cut the average
processing time for most of the noncom-
munist world to 15 days from 40 days a
year and a half ago.
Mr. Archey also is expected to an-
nounce plans to expand his licensing and
enforcement budget by 70% and acquire
100 more officers to expedite applica-
tions.
"Except for some remaining problems
with the China trade, we're moving out li-
censes faster and losing less stuff to illegal
diversions," he said. "We're winning the
war."
Not Everyone Is Certain
Not everyone is so certain all the bugs
have been worked out, however.
Rep. Ed Zschau (R., Calif.), a member
of the House subcommittee on interna-
tional trade policy, is concerned that the
system is still incoherent and cumbersome
at a time when "we're running a $6.3 bil-
lion electronics trade deficit with the rest
of the world."
And the Commerce Department and the
Pentagon seem at odds. For instance,
when Commerce Secretary Malcolm Bal-
drige announced March 14 that U.S. com-
panies would be allowed to petition for the
removal of controls on products for which
there are sufficient foreign substitutes, the
Defense Department lashed back. "There
won't be any massive liberalization," said
Stephen Bryen, the Pentagon's strategic
trade chief. "Such announcements only
serve to unduly raise expectations."
The House panel also is inviting De-
fense and State Department representa-
tives to testify on interagency coordina-
tion. U.S. exporters complain that federal
agencies still quarrel over policy interpre-
tations despite President Reagan's recent
directive ordering close teamwork.
The Commerce Department concedes
that it hasn't untangled all the purely me-
chanical snags. A computer breakdown,
for instance, has seriously delayed the
clearance of more than 1,000 licenses for
technology exports to China. "There are a
lot of big companies fuming over that,"
said a Washington lawyer working on ex-
port-control cases. "One of them has just
about given up on a potential multimillion-
dollar sale."
Process Speeded
Nonetheless, Mr. Archey contends that
the Commerce Department has come a
long way since 1983, when U.S. technology
vendors besieged Congress with com-
plaints about inefficiency and confusion in
the licensing process. "We've not only
speeded the paper movement in our own
department but also the process of refer-
ring cases to other agencies if such is nec-
essary," he said.
At the same time, the department has
so tightened its watch on questionable li-
cense applications that it hasn't heard of a
single major shipment being diverted to
the Societ bloc in the past year, Mr.
Archey said.
The new computer system provides
much of that vigilance. If a potential
buyer's name is on a list kept by the Intel-,
ligence community a blip appears on the
computer screens and the license annhca-
tion is quickly sent to the department's en-
forcement office for Investieation. The
computer also halts a license for a similar
check if the department doesn't have any
previous record of the seller or buyer.
The enforcement office, however, is re-
quired to make a security determination
on such licenses within 10 days to avoid un-
necessary delays.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/12 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000403650003-4