Commerce to Expand Coordination, End-Use Checks of Export Controls, Commerce Undersecretary Nominee Says

The Commerce Department is planning to expand end-use checks for export controls, said Nazak Nikakhtar, the nominee for Commerce’s undersecretary for industry and security, a move she said is part of a broader reform movement to improve “export control coordination.”

Nikakhtar, speaking June 5 during a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee nomination hearing, said in her written testimony that she wants the U.S. to “better coordinate multilateral policies” on sensitive technologies to both help U.S. exporters compete globally and prevent technologies “from being misused by adversaries.” She also said she has been “leading” a Commerce effort to update regulations to better “incorporate” the Export Control Reform Act.

Nikakhtar said the “key to our success” is maintaining U.S. superiority over technology and the economy through multilateral cooperation. She said the U.S. should be more “forward leaning,” called for “better use of intelligence data and analytics, robust enforcement of our laws, and a tightly coordinated" government approach. She also said Commerce should have more “proactive engagement” with Congress.

“My training and experience as both a lawyer and an economist have given me the expertise to determine how to protect U.S. national security and simultaneously advance the economic interests of U.S. industries,” Nikakhtar said.

Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., questioned Nikakhtar about Commerce’s ability to control blueprints for 3D gun printing, asking Nikakhtar if she would change regulations to move controls of the blueprints from Commerce to the State Department. Nikakhtar did not say whether she would, only saying that Commerce will “make sure that we’re implementing and developing sound policies with respect to our export controls.”

Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., commended Commerce for adding telecommunications equipment maker Huawei Technologies to its Entity List but expressed concern that the administration may remove the restrictions “as part of a concession over a trade fight.” “I want to make sure we do everything we can to protect national security,” Nikakhtar said. “My commitment is to make sure we never, ever compromise national security threats.”