Computer export ban to change: U.S. and Japan agree to revision on sales of fastest machines

Article Abstract:

The United States and Japan will revise export controls on supercomputers, which is part of an effort to discourage the spread of nuclear weapons. The US and Japan are the world's only producers of mainframe supercomputers, and they agreed in 1984 to consult with one another before allowing the export of supercomputers. The aim, then, was to prevent the Soviet Union from obtaining supercomputer technology. The restrictions established in 1984 applied to all other countries, but the revised guidelines create two categories: most Western allies will now be allowed to import supercomputers, but they must agree not to re-export supercomputers to 'high-risk' countries; and export to such countries, which are seen as national security or nuclear threats, will be prohibited. Shipments to high-risk countries, especially to some that have not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, will be strictly forbidden.

Japan, Japanese foreign relations, Supercomputers, Supercomputer, Nuclear weapons, Nuclear nonproliferation, Security

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U.S. exporters wary of technology accord

Article Abstract:

An agreement is reached by the Coordinating Committee on Multilateral Export Controls (Cocom) to relax export controls and trade restraints. The Soviet Union and Eastern European nations will get access to sophisticated technology including computers and telecommunications equipment. The target date for the new rules is Jul 1, 1990. The Department of Commerce indicates that export controls will be dropped for almost all microcomputers; several minicomputers; and some mainframes, which might be used to process seismic data and for scientific research. Export controls on computers that process slower than 275M-bits a second are dropped and Cocom members will be allowed to use discretion in exporting computers with speeds up to 550M-bits per second. Some analysts fear that European and Japanese competitors will gain an advantage if adoption of the rules is delayed.

Restraint of trade, Soviet foreign relations, Export controls, Activism, Political protest, Technology transfer, Political Issue, Trade

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U.S. easing on exports of computers

Article Abstract:

The US Department of Defense (DOD) will no longer block sales of various American-made mainframe computers to the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Control of such exports will be left to the US Department of Commerce. This announcement covers low-end mainframes such as IBM's 3031, 4331 and 4341 machines. The US already has agreed to end export controls on microcomputers among 17 nations in the Coordinating Committee on Multilateral Export Controls (COCOM). Commerce Secretary Robert A. Mosbacher says that the Pentagon's decision 'reflects the Administration's understanding of changing circumstances in East-West relations.'

Planning, Mosbacher, Robert A., East-West trade (1945- ), East-West trade

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