The undersecretary for the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security may be the second most important government job regarding China. He or she should implement controls to prevent China from gaining technology for its military, for driving American companies out of business, and for repressing human rights. It’s therefore disturbing that climate change was the “hot” topic at Tuesday’s hearing for undersecretary nominee Alan Estevez.

Problem one is the nomination was months overdue. Problem
two was being lumped in with three others, distracting the Senate banking
committee. The other issues were worth discussing, but not at the expense of
the US selling China technology used to harm our security, prosperity, and
values. Problem three is Mr. Estevez’s unwisely cautious testimony pushed the
Biden administration toward the ranks of those who talk up China policy, but are unwilling to act.

His opening statement welcomed additional authority to limit technology sharing that Congress provided, with overwhelming bipartisan support, to the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) in the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA). But he spoke as if this authority was new, when in fact it was provided in August 2018. Since then, it’s not clear it’s been exercised even once.

In the three years since Congress required “foundational”
technologies be evaluated for restriction, BIS has asked for public comment.
That’s it. In the three years, since Congress required “emerging” technologies
be evaluated for restriction, BIS has restricted them only in line with a multilateral agreement (which includes Russia as a
signatory). There’s been no difference between Congress passing ECRA and if it
had done nothing.

This is hardly Mr. Estevez’s fault, but it’s odd to welcome
entirely unused authority without even hinting at how things will change. His
response to a question about unilateral export controls was similar, noting
they can be necessary without indicating any condition under which they’d be
used. These omissions should have been addressed in follow-up questions, but
there was no time to do so, due to a hearing crowded with other topics.

This is all too familiar. There has been and continues to be a lot of make-believe in American policy toward China. “Tariffs will bring millions of American jobs!” Instead, the trade deficit is rising. “Congress will craft vital China legislation!” Senate and House bills are filled with empty rhetoric plus hundreds of pages only marginally connected to China, and there may be no final product.

An important improvement for Congress would be to demand quarterly or semi-annual BIS briefings on the emerging and foundational technology control processes, as well as on applications to sell to firms on the Entity List. The Biden administration has talked supply chains, subsidies, and outbound investment, but done nothing. It can start to improve by going beyond platitudes to keep Congress informed about American technology in Chinese hands.

If Mr. Estevez is confirmed, he deserves time to catch up to what should have already been done. But if BIS can’t restrict certain foundational and emerging technologies within five years (say) of being instructed to do so, the bureau is harming the country. In that case, authority should be transferred to another agency that will at least try to take needed actions. A pivotal hearing achieved nothing, one thing that must happen now is BIS is put on the clock.

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