White House Announcement of February 3, 2006:

Text of a Letter from the President to the Chairmen of the House and Senate Committees on Armed Services, Chairman of the House Committee on International Relations, and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs released February 3, 2006

Dear Mr. Chairman:

In accordance with the provisions of section 1211(d) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1998 (Public Law 105-85), I hereby notify you of my decision to establish a new level for the notification procedure for digital computers set forth in section 1211(a) of Public Law 105 85. The new level will be 0.75 WT (Weighted TeraFLOPS).

In accordance with the provisions of section 1211(e), I hereby notify you of my decision to remove Bulgaria from the list of countries covered under section 1211(b). The attached report provides the rationale supporting these decisions and fulfills the requirements of Public Law 105 85, sections 1211(d) and (e).

I have made these changes based on the recommendation of the Departments of State, Defense, Commerce, and Energy.

Sincerely,
GEORGE W. BUSH

Link to letter on White House web site

High Performance Computer Update: On December 10, 2003 , the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amended the Export Administration Act (EAR) to implement the December 2002 revisions to the Wassenaar List of Dual-Use Goods and Technologies. This regulatory update raised the composite theoretical performance (CTP) control level for high performance computers (HPCs) from 28,000 millions of theoretical operations per second (MTOPS) to 190,000 MTOPS. Computers with CTP not exceeding 190,000 MTOPS may now be exported and reexported No License Required (NLR) except to embargoed and sanctioned destinations (Country Group E:1 - see Supplement No. 1 to part 740 of the EAR). Exports and reexports of HPCs (computers at or exceeding 190,000 MTOPS) to Computer Tier 1 destinations continue to be authorized under License Exception CTP (section 740.7 of the EAR). For HPC licensing requirements to other destinations, refer to section 742.12 of the EAR.

White House Announcement: On January 10, 2001, President Clinton announced a revision to the U.S. High Performance Computer export control policy. These changes were implemented in regulations published on January 19. The January 19th rule combines Computer Tiers 1 and 2 into a single Tier 1. Exports of computers above 6,500 MTOPS to end users/uses in these countries are allowed without an individual license (i.e. without prior government review), subject to the conditions of License Exception CTP. Also, Lithuania is moved into Tier 1 effective May 19, 2001.

For HPC exports to Tier 3 end users/uses, the rule published January 19th raises the upper limit of License Exception CTP eligibility for Tier 3 end users/uses from 28,000 MTOPS to 85,000 MTOPS, effective immediately. For computers exported prior to February 26, National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) notification and post-shipment reporting requirements will apply for computers between 12,500 MTOPS and 85,000 MTOPS. For computers exported on or after February 26, the lower NDAA notification and reporting threshold will be raised from 12,500 MTOPS to 28,000 MTOPS. Effective March 20, 2001, the revision published January 19th raises this lower threshold to 85,000 MTOPS, as of this date no NDAA notifications are required for exports and reexports authorized under License Exception CTP because a license will be required for computers at this threshold. For exports occurring on or after March 20, 2001 post shipment reports will no longer be required for exports under License Exception CTP, but will still be required for exports of computers with a CTP greater than 85,000 MTOPs under Section 742.12(b)(3)(iv) of the EAR. As required by the NDAA, this change becomes effective 60 days after the President submits a report to the Congress. President Clinton's report was sent to the Congress on January 19, 2001; therefore, the new NDAA notification levels will become effective on March 20, 2001.

High Performance Computer (HPC) Rule: On October 13, 2000, BXA published a rule implementing the August 3 White House announcement updating the HPC export control policy. Effective October 13, 2000, the upper License Exception CTP level for Computer Tier 2 countries is raised from 33,000 to 45,000 MTOPS and the upper License Exception CTP level for Computer Tier 3 countries is raised from 20,000 to 28,000 MTOPS for both civil and military end users. For purposes of License Exception CTP eligibility, this policy removes the distinction between civil and military end-users and end-uses in Computer Tier 3 countries. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) notification and post shipment reporting levels for HPC exports to Computer Tier 3 countries will be raised from 12,500 to 28,000 MTOPS. As required by the NDAA, changes in the NDAA notification level for HPC exports to Tier 3 destinations are only effective 180 days following the submission of a report to Congress. The report was sent to Congress on August 30, therefore, the NDAA notification level will be raised on February 26, 2001. The NDAA post shipment reporting level will be raised to 28,000 MTOPS (currently 12,500 MTOPS) on February 26, 2001.

Additionally, effective October 13, 2000, Argentina is moved from Computer Tier 2 to Computer Tier 1, Estonia will be moved from Computer Tier 3 to Computer Tier 2. However, due to requirements in the 1998 NDAA, removing Estonia from Computer Tier 3 is not effective until 120 days after the Congress receives a report justifying such a removal - this change will go into effect on December 28, 2000.