This right here is the statement. He is basically admitting that this is a politically driven decision on what constitutes "national security" vs the holistic review of "national security" that export control policies fall under. For those on the outside, typically export control policies are reviewed by a tri-commission comprised of Pentagon (specifically, Pentagon Research & Engineering), Commerce (trade & supply chain), Treasury ($$$). The point is to weigh the pros and cons of the specific technologies, their impacts from a defense/security standpoint, and the costs to companies. What most people don't know, is that the Pentagon is quiet sensitive to US companies taking a significant hit because many Pentagon weapons systems rely on the commercial supply chain for production and innovation, and if those companies take a hit, the effect will boomerang back to them eventually. While most defence/security systems are built by defence contractors, for many technologies and parts they rely on commercial dual-use products for cost and efficiency. If you want to confirm look no further then the teardowns people have done on Russian weapons, the US does the same. I doubt the Pentagon would be thrilled to find out that the US semi industry just had a sledgehammer taken to its face, because any corresponding cutbacks will be felt by them.
Alan Estevez deespite being from the Pentagon is a political appointee and not a science & engineering expert, so he has taken top-down political directives from the Biden admnistration on how they see "national security" for implementation. Although Bateman didn't say, I doubt this was coordinated with other departments as well since I can't see how the Pentagon R&D reps would agree to something like this. I didn't think you could do worse than the Trump Administration, but it seems like the Biden Administration is determined to reach new lows. For any American semi employees who get laid off as a result of this, I suggest investing in some Alan Estevez voodoo dolls with your severance package.
Nah. They might go full "Falling Down" mode on him.
