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Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company
The New York Times
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February 2, 2000, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final
SECTION: Section C; Page 6; Column 1; Business/Financial Desk
LENGTH: 259 words
HEADLINE: Computer Export Regulations Relaxed
BYLINE:
Reuters
DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Feb. 1
BODY:
President Clinton eased some United States
computer export controls today to relax what the White House called
"unnecessary regulatory burdens" on the high-performance computer industry.
"This decision reflects my commitment to a control system that will enhance
United States national security by implementing controls on computer exports
that are effective and enforceable," Mr. Clinton said in a statement.
Bowing to the wishes of manufacturers, the administration relaxed a series of
export limits. Unless Congress takes action to block the changes, most will
take effect within about six months.
Mr. Clinton announced in an executive order that the United States would
decontrol the export of all computers operating below 12,300 millions of
theoretical operations per second, or M.T.O.P.S., to all countries except
so-called rogue nations.
That would be a computer capable of 12.3 billion operations a second, several
times as fast as ordinary desktop P.C.'s or laptops but in the range of
computer servers used in offices or to host Web sites.
Companies exporting to
"Tier III" countries (including China, Russia, India, Israel and Pakistan) will still
have to notify the Commerce Department 10 days before the shipment of any
computer performing above 12,500 M.T.O.P.S.
Exports to
"Tier II" nations will also require licensing for computers operating above 30,000
M.T.O.P.S.
And exports to
"Tier IV" countries (Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Cuba, Sudan and Syria) remain unchanged,
meaning an embargo on those countries continues.
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LOAD-DATE: February 2, 2000