Research On Export Control

Export control is an action that a country regulates its export trade in accordance withnational laws and policies. Export control is long-standing, although the motive of exportrestriction always changes with time, it still exists. Export control is not only thecomparison of cost and benefit, but closely related with consideration of political factors.Export control is a policy instrumnet of foreign trade, which contributes to ensuringdomestic supply, squeezing the price of commodity, increasing national revenue,standardizing export order, optimizing export structure, eliminating trade frictions and soon. However, export control is also important for safeguarding national political rights andsecurity interests, promoting foreign policy, forcing other countries to change theirpolitical behaviors. Therefore, export control has important economic significance as wellas strategic importance.By researching on the development of trade protection theory, we find thatmercantilists, Alexander Hamilton and specialists on strategic trade theory had advancedtheories and policies of export control. The export control thought and policy ofMercantilism can be divided into two stages:in the early stage, mercantilists advocatedembargoes on the exportation of silver and gold, export restrictions of crude materials aswell as economic control on foreign businessmen. Export control policies in this stageincluded prohibiting the export of currency and regulating the export of raw materials andfoods, etc. In the late stage, mercantilists proposed deregulating currency export andensuring trade surplus. Under the guidance of it, western European countries carried outsome export control policies, such as protective tariff, supporting exporter, monopolizingcolonial trade, restricting outflow of skilled workers and advanced machinery equipments,emphasizing quality control. Export control thought of mercantilist provided the theorybasis for Western Europe countries intervening in their export trades. Export controlpolicy of Mercantilism accelerated primitive accumulation of capital, promoted rapiddevelopment of manufacture under capitalism and expanded the scope and scale of foreign trade. However, this policy had its limitations. Its trade policy of benefiting oneself atothers’ expense led to conflicts among different countries. Hamilton’s thought of exportcontrol included government regulating foreign trade, prohibiting exports of raw materials,materials were free of duty, checking product quality, limiting exports of improvedmachines and instruments, which supplied theoretical support for backward countries’trade intervention and fast economic growth. Hamilton’s export control policy sped up thedevelopment of American home industries and increased export earnings. Strategic tradetheory consists of strategic export, strategic import and promting export by importpretection, which established new theory evidence for government intervening foreigntrade under the condition of imperfect competition and scale economy. This theorystressed the importance of governments regulating export rationally so that they can gainmore trade interests.It is very necessary to strengthen reasonable export control. Export control is theinevitable demand of ensuring national security interests, the result of competitions amongdifferent coutries, the important means of resisting other countries’ trade protection, therequirement of promoting trade equalization, and the inevitable choice of safeguardingworld peace. Therefore, many countries and regions implemented overall export controlpolicies after the World War II. Besides national export control, international exportcontrol also developed quickly. First, the world trade orgniazaiton (WTO) regulated itsmembers’ export control with the guide of WTO’s legal provisions about export control.On the basis of these provisions, WTO supervised and managed its members’ exportactions. Second, international multilateral export control mechanism played a critical roleon arms control, anti-terrorism, nonproliferation, safeguarding world peace, etc.Multilateral export control system effectively coordinates the common export control ofeach member. Now multilateral export control system is facing sevvere chanllages.Promoting more countries paticipating in multilateral export control system, promulgatinginternational law of non-proliferation, restructuring multilateral control mechanism, thegreat powers undertaking more responsibilities, strengthening the control on exproters willdo good to multilateral export control regime. After many years evolution, some countries and regions had drawn up andpromulgated export control laws, established control lists, set up authorities to carry outregulation measures such as export licencing, catch-all controls and so on, formedsystematic export control system, which supplied some experiences for China.China’s export control has experienced the evolution from state control to opencontrol and its export control system changed from administration into legal management.Nowadays China has founded export control system including all military products anddual-use goods, put list control and end-use control into practice, enhanced legalizationand transparency of control policy, enlarged cooperation with international organizationsof export control. But we are faced some problems on control framework, administrativedepartment, control targets, control lists, control measures, control facilities, internationalcooperation, dynamic adjustment mechanism, etc. In the future, we should use limitedresources to increase control efficiency, perfect our export control system and accomplishcontrol aims well.