Skip to main content
HR 4191 101th Congress House Foreign Trade and International Finance American investments Armed Forces and National Security Arms sales Congressional reporting requirements Czechoslovakia East Germany Estonia Executive reorganization Export controls Export credit Export finance Free enterprise Hungary International agencies Latvia Licenses Lithuania Most favored nation principle Poland

Export Enhancement Act of 1990

Introduced: March 6, 1990 See on congress.gov
 Everywhere this bill has been 8 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Mar 19, 1990
Referred to the Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East.
Mar 19, 1990
Referred to the Subcommittee on International Economic Policy and Trade.
Mar 15, 1990
Referred to the Subcommittee on International Development, Finance, Trade, and Monetary Policy.
Mar 8, 1990
Referred to the Subcommittee on Trade.
Mar 6, 1990
Referred to the House Committee on Banking, Finance + Urban Affrs.
Mar 6, 1990
Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Mar 6, 1990
Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Mar 6, 1990
Introduced in House
 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Export Enhancement Act of 1990 - Title I: Export Administration Act - Directs the President, in light of the rapidly changing strategic environment, to: (1) assess the current list of controlled countries and determine whether it remains appropriate; and (2) review specified export control criteria under the Export Administration Act of 1979.

Amends the Export Administration Act of 1979 to require controls on exports to Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Romania to be no more rigorous than similar controls on China as of January 1, 1989, if such countries have export control safeguards equivalent to those of China.

Requires the Secretary of Commerce to identify those nonmilitary industries that can undertake projects to assist the economic reforms in the Soviet Union. Requires approval of export licenses for goods or technology at higher levels for such projects unless the end-user presents a significant risk of diversion to a military use.

Authorizes the issuance of licenses for the export or reexport of goods and technology to Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Poland, or Romania.

Declares that, under specified circumstances, there shall be a presumption of approval of a license for export to any country (currently, only China) of any controlled goods, without regard to their technical specifications, for trade show purposes. Declares that such approval shall not apply, for any trade show in the Soviet Union, to supercomputers, goods or technology for sensitive nuclear uses, or devices for interception of wire or oral communications.

Prohibits any item subject to national security controls under the Export Administration Act of 1979 from being subject to controls under the Arms Export Control Act. Authorizes any dissenting agency head to notify the Secretary of his or her objection in any situation where there is a dispute about the applicability of controls under either Act.

Directs the Secretary to designate an official of the Department of Commerce to represent the Secretary permanently in the U.S. delegation to the Coordination Committee.

Requires the Secretary to review the goods and technology available from newly industrialized countries to determine if they are of such a sophistication as to warrant multilateral control. Requires the Secretary of State, if controls are necessary, to negotiate with such countries to obtain their participation in the Coordinating Committee.

Authorizes the Secretary to refer regulatory authority with respect to national security controls to any other Federal agency and to the appropriate technical advisory committee.

Requires regulations issued by the Secretary with respect to periodic removal of goods and technology from national security controls as they become obsolete to provide for annual increases in the performance levels of such items. (Currently such increases are authorized but not required.)

Denies application of any national security controls to the export of control list goods and technology to a country not on the controlled country list unless the Secretary determines and reports to the Congress that continued controls on such items are necessary. Requires notice of any items removed from the list to the Coordinating Committee for multilateral East-West decontrol consideration.

Places the National Security Control Office of the Department of Defense under the direction of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition (instead of, as currently, the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy).

Title II: Trade and Investment - Amends the Support for East European Democracy Act of 1989 to direct the President to confer nondiscriminatory (most-favored-nation) trade status on Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Estonia, the German Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, and the Soviet Union.

Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to make Czechslovakia, East Germany, and the Soviet Union eligible for trade benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences.

Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to make Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and Romania eligible for Overseas Private Investment Corporation programs.

Authorizes the Export-Import Bank to guarantee, insure, finance, and extend credit in connection with the purchase or lease of any product by Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, or Romania.

What's happening now March 19, 1990

Referred to the Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East.

 Committees of jurisdiction 7