United States high technology export control policy: An assessment of relative costs and implications for national security

Controls on the export of high technology and scientific information exchanges and data flows to the Soviet Bloc have engendered a lively debate within the U.S. and spawned periodic acrimony within the Atlantic Alliance. This study asks: To what degree and how have export controls affected significant U.S. economic and national security interests?; This study examines, tests, and evaluates the effectiveness of U.S. high technology export controls in achieving their objectives, the significance of these controls for U.S. commercial interests, and for Alliance technological cooperation, and the impact of U.S. and West European differences for the political cohesion of the Alliance. Assessment and evaluation of policy efficacy and of its relative costs, measured in terms of possible damage to U.S. economic and national security interests, will suggest the desirability of this policy. Measurement and evaluation of relative damage to U.S. interests is attempted through short studies of possible spillover affecting key areas of U.S. foreign, defense, and economic policy. Test criteria include: Strategic evaluation--U.S. asset denial policy, effectiveness of denying technology to the Soviet Bloc, and implications for scientific communication and U.S. and NATO interests, Economic evaluation--Damage to U.S. overseas business and export performance. This study concludes that U.S. policy has been successful in denying and delaying Soviet access to, and development of, dual-use technology with only relatively minor costs to overall U.S. high technology industries and export performance.