State Dept. Official: Renewing China 123 Agreement Could Lead to Supply Partnerships

Renewing the 30-year-old U.S.-China civil nuclear agreement would allow bilateral nuclear supply partnerships if China becomes a larger nuclear supplier, Tom Countryman, State Department Assistant Secretary of International Security and Nonproliferation, stated in Congressional testimony submitted yesterday. “These export opportunities could support tens of thousands of high-paying American jobs,” Countryman said in his testimony. “For all of these reasons, the U.S. nuclear industry strongly supports the agreement.” Countryman submitted the written testimony prior to a planned Wednesday hearing that would have seated members of the House Foreign Affairs Asia and the Pacific and the Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade subcommittees. Voting forced lawmakers to postpone the hearing to July 16.

 

NNSA Administrator Frank Klotz stated in written testimony that the 123 agreement could help expedite technology transfer requests, which could help boost American industry competition in the Chinese market.  “As compared to the current regulatory pathway, this method would provide for greater oversight of all the covered activities, and would allow for more timely decisions regarding technology transfer requests so that U.S. companies may be increasingly competitive in the Chinese market,” Klotz stated. “It would also make the failure to comply with the technology transfer authorizations issued under the 123 Agreement a breach of the legally binding terms of the Agreement.” The agreement expires at the end of this year.