Bloomberg’s Mark Drajem previews tomorrow’s announcement by President Obama, “Obama Proposes Easing Export Controls on Europe, Japan, Canada“:

The Obama administration proposed easing controls on the export of technology items that may be used for military purposes to 37 allies, including Canada, Japan, Germany and France.

In a rule set to be published tomorrow, the Commerce Department asked U.S. industry groups to review its plans to ease limits on sales for a number of products. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke proposed eliminating export controls for sales to close allies a year ago, and has pushed to get the rules released.

“Conceptually this is a very important move forward,” said Catherine Robinson, the director for high-technology trade policy at the National Association of Manufacturers…

The Milken Institute in January released a report sponsored by the NAM, “Jobs for America: Investments and policies for economic growth and competitiveness.” Modernizing export controls was a key recommendation:

Modernizing U.S. export controls could increase exports in high-value areas. By 2019, these policy adjustments could enhance real GDP by $64.2 billion (0.4 percent), create 160,000 manufacturing jobs, and heighten total employment by 340,000.