BIS has 400 staff reviewing thousands of license applications using 1990s-era paper workflows

The Bureau of Industry and Security processes 35,000+ export license applications per year with approximately 400 staff, many using paper-based review workflows and a licensing system (SNAP-R) built in the late 1990s. Average processing time is 45 days, but complex semiconductor cases take 90-180 days. US companies lose sales to allied competitors who face lighter export controls (Japanese and European chip equipment makers). This persists because BIS's budget ($180M) has not scaled with the explosion in technology export controls since 2022, Congressional appropriations for Commerce Department enforcement lag years behind policy ambitions, and hiring export control engineers who understand semiconductor technology at BIS salaries ($80-120K) is nearly impossible when industry pays 3x.