China Tech Threat applauds the confirmation of Alan Estevez to lead the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), which is the most important agency most Americans have never heard of. Mr. Estevez brings unprecedented experience to the role with some 30 years in defense, supply chain, and logistics.
It has been 5 years since there was a confirmed BIS Director, and 9 months since Mr. Estevez was nominated. The clock has been ticking, and as Mira Ricardel, former Deputy National Security Advisor and BIS Under Secretary for Export Administration, told us, “The only parties that benefit from a lack of senior leadership at BIS are our adversaries.”
China Tech Threat Co-Founder Roslyn Layton, PhD welcomed the news of Mr. Estevez’s confirmation and said, “With growing threats from Russia and China, Mr. Estevez needs to hit the ground running. He must ensure that BIS follows through on the suite of restrictions placed on Russia. Additionally, with recent news that Apple is sourcing chips from YMTC for the iPhone, BIS must stop dragging its feet on calls to add the Chinese military fab to the Entity List.”
Layton added, “I look forward to Mr. Estevez making good on his commitment to use the full arsenal of BIS tools to counter China’s anticompetitive and unfair practices, human rights abuses, and tactics to maneuver around our nation’s regulatory structures.”
Mr. Estevez’s confirmation comes at a critical time, and BIS has no shortage of issues to address. Join us on Tuesday at 12 pm ET for a conversation with Kevin Wolf, former Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Control at BIS, and Derek Scissors, Commissioner of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, about competing views on the Future of BIS. Also, visit our Future of BIS site for China Tech Threat’s series of policy recommendations for Mr. Estevez and his agency to address.