On export control to the United States

The export control functions of the United States have been assigned since 1987 to the Bureau of Export Management under the Ministry of Commerce. The Bureau is guided in its activities by control lists of 128 pages and 240 items, including items that are not on the COCOM lists. The control mechanism also includes the division of the countries of the world into different categories. Canada is the only country outside the categories — the only country to which exports are not subject to licensing. This privilege does not apply to other US allies.

A single group consists of the Soviet Union and most of the countries of Eastern Europe. Cuba is included in the number of States that are subject to the embargo regime. The PRC belongs to the same category as many NATO member countries.

The overall picture of export control is complemented by the use of 6 different licensing mechanisms.

What does the policy of limiting the volume of economic relations and the universal bureaucratic mechanism of export control cost the United States? The report of the National Academy of Sciences published in 1987 ("The Allen Report" — named after the project manager L. Allen) calls specific figures. According to the calculations of the authors of the report, such a policy costs the United States 188 thousand jobs and $9 billion annually. Against the backdrop of a gigantic US trade deficit and a decline in the competitiveness of American goods on the world market, the publication of the Allen report served as a signal for a new outbreak of discussions and a frank struggle between supporters of maintaining control and supporters of export promotion.

In itself, the economic expediency of expanding economic ties with the USSR and removing all kinds of obstacles causes little doubt among both. The fundamental differences are primarily set by the attitude to the process of change in the Soviet Union and the assessment of the nature of the reforms carried out in our country. The ruling circles of the United States are still far from ready to heed the call of J. K. Galbraith: "We have nothing to fear from a well-functioning Soviet economy. We must overcome our old fear of the success of socialism as a manifestation of paranoia."

Western European experts consider it unlikely that a serious reduction in US export controls and a reduction in control lists to at least the level of COCOM lists, as recommended in the Allen report. Accordingly, the answer to the above question: "What is a COCOM?" is formulated by them, in essence, as follows: "An obsolete dinosaur", whose vital activity will continue to be supported by East—West economic relations. bodyrubs

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