The administration raised the licensing threshold of high-performance computers and semi-conductors to so-called "Tier two" and "Tier three" countries. For "Tier 3" countries, among which India and Pakistan are listed, and "which present the greatest risk from a national security viewpoint, the administration will continue its policy of maintaining a lower threshold for military end-users than civilian end-users," the President said in astatement. But the thresholds will be raised. Clinton said he was rai NetServer and the Compaq ProLiant. Likewise, the administration decided to raise the level at which the ten-day pre-export notification requirement is triggered for exports to Tier three countries from 2,000 MTOPS to 6,500 MTOPS. The change to Tier three countries will take place immediately while the change to military licensing levels will take some time. Due to legislation passed by Congress in 1997, this change will require Congressional approval and a six-month period before it can go into effect. Clinton said he would work with Congress to pass legislation that will reduce this period to one month to keep up with the rapid pace of technological change.

By this fall, a laptop computer that can perform over current control levels of 2,000 MTOPS, and will cost a few thousand dollars will be available by mail order or through Internet sales, the administration predicted. Single chips in commercial release today are over 1,200 MTOPS,the current control level set by the administration in 1995. By next year, commercial chips will go up from 2,500 to over 5,000 MTOPS. Commercial chips are shipped in millions throughout worldwide distribution networks and are essential components of over 21 million personal computers, laptops and basic servers sold in Europe and Asia in 1997 alone.

That number is growing now. Podesta said there had been a steady rise in the number of non-US computer makers, not just the personal computers, but of the highly competitive business server market as well. Companies in Europe, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea are expected to capture 22 per cent of the global business computer market by the year 2000.