Office of the Historian

9. National Security Decision Memorandum 222, Washington, June 11, 1973.1 2

Washington, June 11, 1973.

NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20506

June 11, 1973

National Security Decision Memorandum 222

TO:

  • The Secretary of State
  • The Acting Secretary of Defense
  • The Secretary of Commerce

SUBJECT:

  • COCOM

The President has considered the views of the Departments of State, Commerce, and Defense presented in the Under Secretaries Committee memorandum of January 30, 1973 and has made the following decisions:

1.
The United States shall continue to support the COCOM system in its present form as the primary mechanism for multilateral coordination of the control of exports of strategically sensitive products and technology to the Communist countries.
2.
The Economic Defense Advisory Committee shall adopt a more formalized decision-making procedure as recommended in the USC report to ensure that inter-agency differences on COCOM matters are resolved within a reasonable period of time.
3.
EDAC shall begin at the earliest practicable time to develop the basic U. S. rationale for the next List Review. In preparing for the List Review, the EDAC should seek to maintain the list at a level which will be supported by other COCOM nations and which will permit a smooth expansion of non-strategic trade with the Communist nations, consistent with decisions contained in NSDM 212. At the same time, it should seek to retain controls on products and technology of significant strategic importance. Consideration shall be given to the advisability of increasing de minimis levels for cases which must be submitted to COCOM [Page 2] and to simplifying licensing controls to the extent consistent with an effective enforcement mechanism. The technical advisory groups provided for in the Export Administration Act should be utilized where this will make a contribution to reviewing the embargo lists.

[signed]

cc: The Secretary of Treasury

The Director of Central Intelligence

The Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff

The Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs

Henry A. Kissinger
  1. Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Subject Files, Box 364, NSDMs 145-264 (1972-1974) [1 of 2]. Secret.↩
  2. President Nixon upheld the use of the COCOM system to regulate export of strategically sensitive products and technology to communist countries.↩