    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
    [July 1, 1999]
    [Page 1108]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement on Export Controls on High-Performance Computers and
    Semiconductors
    July 1, 1999

        Today I am announcing reforms to the administration's export
    controls on high-performance computers (HPC) and semiconductors. These
    policies will strengthen America's high-tech competitiveness, while
    maintaining controls that are needed to maintain our national security.
        These reforms are needed because of the extraordinarily rapid rate
    of technological change in the computer industry. The number-crunching
    ability of a supercomputer that once filled a room and cost millions of
    dollars is now available in an inexpensive desktop computer. Computers
    that are widely used by businesses and can be manufactured by European,
    Japanese, and Asian companies will soon exceed the limits that I
    established on high-performance computers in 1996. These business
    computers have become commodities, and next year U.S. and foreign
    vendors are expected to sell 5 million of them.
        Maintaining these controls would hurt U.S. exports without
    benefiting our national security. Moreover, a strong, vibrant high-tech
    industry is in America's national security interests. That is why I have
    decided to raise the licensing threshold of high-performance computers
    to so-called tier two and tier three countries. For tier three
    countries, which present the greatest risk from a national security
    viewpoint, the administration will continue its policy of maintaining a
    lower threshold for military end-users than civilian end-users. I have
    also directed my national security and economic advisers to provide me
    with recommendations to update our export controls every 6 months.
        Due to legislation passed by the Congress in 1997, this change will
    require congressional approval and a 6-month period before it can go
    into effect. I will work with the Congress to pass legislation that
    would reduce this period to one month, so that we can keep up with the
    rapid pace of technological change. I also want to work with the
    Congress on a bipartisan basis to explore longer term solutions to how
    we deal with commodities like widely available computers and
    microprocessors.