US lawmakers urge ban on intelligence work for China, Russia

US lawmakers seek China intelligence work ban

Washington, Aug 26

The lawmakers urged Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to implement export-control provisions authorised by Congress in 2022 but never fully enforced.

The group includes Democratic Senators Ron Wyden and Peter Welch, Republican Senator John Cornyn, Republican Representatives Pat Harrigan and Michael McCaul, and Democratic Representative Sara Jacobs.

They said current US rules restrict Americans from assisting military intelligence agencies in China, Russia and other designated countries but do not effectively cover their civilian intelligence and security organisations.

"As a result, foreign intelligence agencies in many countries can still legally hire consultants in the United States and buy advanced U.S. surveillance, cyber, and artificial intelligence technology, for use in their intelligence operations to target Americans, and operate against American national security and foreign policy interests," the lawmakers wrote.

The Trump administration imposed export controls in 2021 on American citizens and companies conducting business with military intelligence agencies in China, Russia and other countries of concern.

However, the law at the time allowed such restrictions to be applied only to military intelligence organisations.

Congress passed legislation in 2022 authorising the government to impose similar controls on foreign civilian intelligence and security agencies.

The Biden administration proposed regulations implementing those powers in 2024, but the rules were never finalised, according to a statement.

"Implementing these crucial enhancements to fully close this loophole is vital to preventing foreign adversaries from leveraging American tools and expertise against the US government, our citizens and strategic interests," the lawmakers wrote.

They recommended that the Commerce Department adopt a "trusted countries list" consisting of nations with strong human-rights records that do not conduct surveillance against the United States.

Under their proposal, Americans would need a government licence before doing business with intelligence or security agencies in countries not included on the trusted list.

The lawmakers said the country lists proposed by the previous administration omitted several governments accused of human-rights abuses or espionage against the United States.

They also asked the Commerce Department to close what they described as due-diligence loopholes used by private surveillance contractors.

Private spyware and cyber-surveillance companies frequently conceal their customers to avoid regulatory restrictions, the lawmakers said.

They recommended that foreign surveillance companies be required to provide American suppliers with sworn declarations confirming that their clients do not include intelligence or security agencies outside trusted countries.

The group also sought broader controls covering biometric surveillance and classification technology.

Although the proposed 2024 regulations included facial-recognition systems, the lawmakers said other technologies could also be used by repressive governments to track or categorise individuals.

They called for the restrictions to cover gait recognition, cardiac-signature recognition and systems that classify individuals according to race, sex or ethnicity.

The US Commerce Department controls the export, re-export and transfer of sensitive American goods, software and technology through its Export Administration Regulations. Restrictions may also cover services provided by American citizens or companies when their work presents national-security or foreign-policy risks.

— IANS