Computer Company CEOs Confident of July Decision on Export Controls After Meeting with White House

Washington, D.C. – After a meeting with senior White House officials, the CEOs of seven U.S. computer manufacturers today expressed optimism that the Administration will move to ease U.S. computer export controls this summer. The industry has maintained that unless computer export controls are updated soon to reflect worldwide market realities, it will face a serious competitive disadvantage next year in some of the most important markets in the world.

“Today’s White House meeting was well timed and very productive,” said Lawrence A. Weinbach, Unisys Corporation CEO and co-chairman of the Computer Coalition for Responsible Exports (CCRE). “Based on today’s discussions, we are hopeful that the Administration will announce new computer export control relief this summer.”

The industry has pushed for an update to the export control system in light of the pending release of powerful, new-generation microprocessors. Under the current system, incorporation of these microprocessors into common business computers would require companies to obtain export licenses before the computers could be sold overseas. At the same time, foreign companies do not face these restrictions, and thus would be able to bring their products to market faster than U.S. companies could.

Weinbach stressed that the industry’s request would in no way erode U.S. national security. “Prohibiting U.S. exports of business computers like those readily available from foreign competitors on the world market hurts U.S. companies while providing no national security benefit,” Weinbach said. “Our national security is better served by ensuring that a vibrant US computer industry can continue to maintain its global technological dominance.”

Other CEOs meeting with Administration officials today were Robert Bishop, SGI; Michael Capellas, Compaq Computer Corp.; Michael Dell, Dell Computer Corp.; Carleton Fiorina, Hewlett-Packard Co.; Louis Gerstner, IBM Corp.; and Lars Nyberg, NCR Corp.

CCRE members include Apple Computer, Inc., Compaq Computer Corporation, Dell Computer Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Company, IBM Corporation, Intel Corporation, NCR Corporation, SGI, Sun Microsystems, Inc., Unisys Corporation, the American Electronics Association (AEA), the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), the Computer Systems Policy Project (CSPP), the Electronics Industry Alliance (EIA), and the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI). Look for CCRE’s new website for more information about export controls: www.ccre.net