Ahead of Confirmation Hearing, Warren Questions Under Secretary Nominee Kessler on Export Controls, Enforcement, and National Security Concerns
If Confirmed, Kessler Would Enforce Export Controls, Implement Trump Tariffs
“There is broad bipartisan support for empowering BIS to achieve its mission. However, for BIS to succeed, it needs to maintain integrity and trust - two qualities that this administration sorely lacks.”
“The President has a track record of using power for personal enrichment and empowering individuals with flagrant conflicts of interest. I seek your assurance that, if confirmed, you will reject that approach.”
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, wrote to Jeffrey Kessler, nominee to be Under Secretary for Industry and Security at the U.S. Department of Commerce, ahead of his nomination hearing tomorrow, pressing him to clarify his positions on key issues, including export controls, enforcement of tariffs and trade regulations, and the Trump Administration’s broader approach to national security policies.
Ranking Member Warren wrote that she agreed with the Administration’s review of export controls with an eye towards eliminating loopholes. But she emphasized President Trump’s history of pursuing misguided dealmaking with the People’s Republic of China and trading away our national security by selling America’s most advanced technology to our adversaries.
“I am concerned about how President Xi plans to manipulate the President during his second term, and it is critical for you to fight efforts to weaken our controls for short-term deals that leave us less safe and prosperous as a country,” wrote Ranking Member Warren.
If confirmed, Kessler would oversee the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), the U.S. agency responsible for implementing dual-use export controls, enforcing tariffs, and overseeing key national security programs such as information technology and communication services. As national and economic security threats evolve, Ranking Member Warren stressed the importance of utilizing economic tools in the public interest, including by opposing tariffs exclusion policies like those of the first Trump term that benefit politically-connected and foreign-owned companies.
“(W)ith President Trump proposing far broader tariffs than before, the corporate scramble for exemptions is more and more intense. I hope, based on your experience, you will agree that the previous Trump administration’s tariff exclusions process was ridden with abuse and should not be repeated,” wrote the Ranking Member.
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