U.S. Ends High-tech Export Restrictions to India

Wharton Aerospace ^ | 2/4/2011 | Wharton Aerospace

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

India has now come full circle — from a nation that was under a high-tech embargo for its nuclear weapons program to one receiving an invitation to join a group of nations that regulate export controls.

President Barak Obama says the United States is ending its export restrictions on technology that could be used by India's defense and space industries, according to an article in the AFP.

"These actions will open important new opportunities for our companies and governments on cooperating in the defense and space areas," said Robert Blake, the assistant secretary of state for South Asia.

These are the first public details since Obama announced during his trip to India in November that he would ease restrictions. Some of India's biggest military and aerospace research entities — like the Indian Space Research Organization and the Defense Research and Development Organization — will come off the U.S. black list. India has been under embargo for such technology since its nuclear tests in 1998.

China also wants fewer restrictions on high-tech imports but the U.S. and other countries are still concerned about Beijing's unwillingness to prevent the theft of intellectual property, and its economic and tariff stance on its exports, according to the AFP.

[HiTech RedNeck]

If India is shrewd, it will insist that things sold to it be made in India, even if by American companies. This is like what China does. The profits to America won’t be there, because the money will stay in India to protect it from punitive US taxes.

[Gen-X-Dad]

The replies here are quite weird. How on earth does a decision to export products of U.S. companies become one where somehow India takes the jobs?

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You can’t possibly be that naive. China has picked our pockets for decades through tech transfer. They use the honey pot of ultra cheap labor to reel in our know how and industrial base and then replace us as the manufacturing center of high-tech equipment for the world. India is salivating to imitate their success and repeat the process. Once the US government rubber stamps things like export control on tech, the floodgates are open. Industry rushes over into the cheaper market, spends all their investment money on building the future industrial base overseas, and pockets the tremendous profit that the US political class handed to them. Meanwhile, our country dies the death of a thousand cuts.

“We are going to export our way into more jobs” has never worked because we can’t compete against near slave labor in other countries. This idea is a complete and utter failure. Go look at Detroit (the former heart of the American industrial base) on google maps, it is a wasteland. That is what happens when you ship your industrial base overseas. Permanent unemployment of 20% is here to stay because we have destroyed our economic base for short term profit. We are now the largest debtor nation vs largest creditor nation. This happened in 50 years thanks to “free” trade policies and a political class that cares more about their next big corporate donation for reelection than protecting the future of this country.

[cold start]

I think you are mixing up issues. The sanctions were against Indian government entities like the Defence research & development organisation(DRDO) & the Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO) & those connected with India’s nuclear program. These have now been lifted along with those on other smaller governmental entities. If sanctions had not been lifted, the U.S. would have effectively shut itself out on large defence deals as well as with a large order for building nuclear plants. The sanctions were on what is called “dual use technologies”. The close relation between the two countries makes the continuations of such sanctions untenable. There is no direct technology transfer & the U.S. will only change its position from “presumption of denial” to that of allowable. Where technology transfer is part of the deal, the U.S. will have a right to decide on each case & the specifics of such transfer.

[Trod Upon]

I don’t think so. Right now it is a cheap source of labor, but when you can no longer get 10 Indian engineers for the price of one American, all those jobs will either come back or go somewhere cheaper. Offshoring is false economy in many ways, and people are slowly waking up. I really don’t see how the average American benefits from the status quo. A few large shareholders and executives are enriched, but the rest of us get reduced wages, buggy code, and atrocious customer service. The US doesn’t need more of this at all.

[Gen-X-Dad]

You have much more faith in international laws meaning something than I do. Once the Chinese got their hands on the goods they rushed off to reproduce it. Then they even turned around and sued the companies they stole it from as violating their intellectual property. A government that wants to climb the tech ladder has no reason to play by the rules. What are we going to do them? Leave, sue, verbally threaten them? None of that matters, they get what they want because we allow companies to do the tech transfer. Once they can build it and laugh at us, the other multinational companies rush over to have them make it cheaper. The Chinese have perfected this process, India and everyone else is going to imitate them. Meanwhile, we go down as the world’s biggest sucker.