Title 50War and National DefenseRelease 119-73not60

§1211 Export Approvals for High Performance Computers.

Title 50 › Chapter 56— EXPORT ADMINISTRATION › § 1211

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

Computers that can do more than 2,000 MTOPS (millions of theoretical operations per second) cannot be sent or re-sent to certain countries unless a license is issued when one of five officials objects in writing. The exporter must tell the Secretary of Commerce before sending the computer. Within 24 hours the Commerce Secretary must forward that notice to the Secretaries of Defense, Energy, State, and to the Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. Those officials have 10 days to send a written objection. If any objection is filed, the computer needs a Commerce Department export license and usual license exceptions do not apply. If no objection arrives in 10 days, the export may go ahead. The covered countries are those listed as “Computer Tier 3” in 15 C.F.R. 740.7(d) as of June 10, 1997, unless the President changes the list. The President can also raise the MTOPS limit after consulting the same officials, but a new limit only starts 60 days after the President sends a report to Congress explaining availability from other countries, possible military uses, and national security effects. Adding or removing countries also requires consultation; removing a country takes effect 120 days after the President reports why. A country cannot be removed if it is a nuclear-weapon state that is not in NATO, or if it is not an NPT signatory and is on Annex 2 to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty. Reports must be unclassified but may include a classified supplement. The Defense Department’s objection authority is handled by an Assistant Secretary-level official who must try to meet the 10-day deadline. The 60-day waiting time does not count days when either House of Congress is not in session because Congress adjourned sine die.

Full Legal Text

Title 50, §1211

War and National Defense — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

“(a)The President shall require that no digital computer with a composite theoretical performance level of more than 2,000 millions of theoretical operations per second (MTOPS) or with such other composite theoretical performance level as may be established subsequently by the President under subsection (d), may be exported or reexported without a license to a country specified in subsection (b) if the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of State, or the Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency objects, in writing, to such export or reexport. Any person proposing to export or reexport such a digital computer shall so notify the Secretary of Commerce, who, within 24 hours after receiving the notification, shall transmit the notification to the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of State, and the Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.
“(b)For purposes of subsection (a), the countries specified in this subsection are the countries listed as ‘Computer Tier 3’ eligible countries in section 740.7(d) of title 15 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on June 10, 1997, subject to modification by the President under subsection (e).
“(c)Written objections under subsection (a) to an export or reexport shall be raised within 10 days after the notification is received under subsection (a). If such a written objection to the export or reexport of a computer is raised, the computer may be exported or reexported only pursuant to a license issued by the Secretary of Commerce under the Export Administration Regulations of the Department of Commerce, without regard to the licensing exceptions otherwise authorized under section 740.7 of title 15 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on June 10, 1997. If no objection is raised within the 10-day period, the export or reexport is authorized.
“(d)The President, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of State, and the Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, may establish a new composite theoretical performance level for purposes of subsection (a). Such new level shall not take effect until 60 days after the President submits to the congressional committees designated in section 1215 a report setting forth the new composite theoretical performance level and the justification for such new level. Each report shall, at a minimum—
“(1)address the extent to which high performance computers of a composite theoretical level between the level established in subsection (a) or such level as has been previously adjusted pursuant to this section and the new level, are available from other countries;
“(2)address all potential uses of military significance to which high performance computers at the new level could be applied; and
“(3)assess the impact of such uses on the national security interests of the United States.
“(e)“(1)The President, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of State, and the Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, may add a country to or remove a country from the list of covered countries in subsection (b), except that a country may be removed from the list only in accordance with paragraph (2).
“(2)The removal of a country from the list of covered countries under subsection (b) shall not take effect until 120 days after the President submits to the congressional committees designated in section 1215 a report setting forth the justification for the deletion.
“(3)A country may not be removed from the list of covered countries under subsection (b) if—
“(A)the country is a ‘nuclear-weapon state’ (as defined by Article IX of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons) and the country is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; or
“(B)the country is not a signatory of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the country is listed on Annex 2 to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty.
“(f)Each report under subsections (d) and (e) shall be submitted in an unclassified form and may, if necessary, have a classified supplement.
“(g)For the purposes of the Department of Defense, the authority to issue an objection referred to in subsection (a) shall be executed for the Secretary of Defense by an official at the Assistant Secretary level within the office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. In implementing subsection (a), the Secretary of Defense shall ensure that Department of Defense procedures maximize the ability of the Department of Defense to be able to issue an objection within the 10-day period specified in subsection (c).
“(h)The 60-day period referred to in subsection (d) shall be calculated by excluding the days on which either House of Congress is not in session because of an adjournment of the Congress sine die.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

50 U.S.C. § 1211

Title 50War and National Defense

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60