The White House aims to create an independent agency responsible for licensing exports of military and dual-use technologies, U.S. National Security Adviser James L. Jones said June 30.
The “Single Licensing Agency” would take over technology export licensing functions divided between the U.S. State and Commerce departments and would be “an independent entity” governed by a Cabinet-level board of directors reporting to the president, Jones said in remarks prepared for a speech to the Senate Aerospace Caucus. “We anticipate that leadership of the [Single Licensing Agency] would be nominated by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate,” Jones said.
Jones did not give a target date for creating the agency, but said it would be part of the third and final phase of the administration’s effort to reform an export control regime that U.S. aerospace companies complain stifles their ability to compete globally while inadvertently undermining national security.
Jones also announced during his speech that the administration intends to create a tiered munitions list that will allow the U.S. government to prioritize export controls and the processing of license applications.
Jones said the administration over the last five months has “developed independent objective criteria to create a tiered control list structure, with the ‘crown jewels’ and [weapons of mass destruction] in the top tier and then cascading down the tiers as the technology or product life cycle matures.”
