I recently co-authored an article for WorldECR with Scott Jones, a nonresident fellow at The Stimson Center, examining the history and current trajectory of the Entity List, part of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) administered by the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) to help protect U.S. national security. In the article, we outline the history of the Entity List and discuss the need for a just and transparent removal mechanism.

We state that “since the 2008 change in scope to include national security and foreign policy concerns, the number of parties added to the Entity List has increased dramatically” from its original purpose of preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.  With the recent technology conflicts between the United States and China, we argue the Entity List has become the most convenient tool in the toolbox to further U.S. national security and foreign policy goals.

Scott and I point out that “currently, there are 12 lists generated by the U.S. government imposing varying levels of trade, travel, asset, and financial constraints on the listed and, in some case, on parties involved with those listed. The Entity List is the second largest by weight. Arguably, along with Treasury’s Specially Designated Nationals List, it is one of most consequential.”

The full article, “A Singular List (with Many Dimensions),” was published by WorldECR in November 2021 and is available on the publication’s website (subscription required) or in the PDF provided here.