The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls is revising its trade regulations to add and remove items from the U.S. Munitions List and to clarify the control scope of others. The changes, outlined in an interim final rule released Jan. 16 and effective Sept. 15, include new defense articles that DDTC said should be subject to export controls under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and delete others “that no longer warrant inclusion” or that will soon become subject to the Commerce Department’s licensing jurisdiction.
Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC)
The State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) is the agency tasked with administering export controls over defense articles, defense services and brokering activities under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. It maintains the U.S. Munitions List (USML), which details the defense articles and services subject to the ITAR.
The State Department’s recently published fall 2024 regulatory agenda previews a range of export control rules the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls is hoping to issue this year, including one that would finalize an updated definition for defense services and others that would make various changes to the U.S. Munitions List.
Space industry associations and companies largely welcomed a recent State Department proposal to modernize U.S. space-related export controls, although they asked for several clarifications, fewer export control guardrails and an extended timeline to allow space firms to update their compliance programs.
The State Department is finalizing an April proposed rule that will raise fees for registration with the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, the agency’s first fee increase in 15 years (see 2404230033).
The State Department is expecting to see a large uptick by the end of the year in the number of authorized users under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations' new AUKUS exemption, a senior agency official said.
The U.S. wants to remove more export barriers faced by the commercial space industry even after announcing a set of space-related export control reforms in October, a senior official said this week, adding that the effort could continue under the incoming Trump administration.
A set of new rules released last week by the Commerce and State departments will reduce licensing requirements for exports of certain space-related items to a range of U.S. trading partners and propose to transfer export control jurisdiction over other space-related defense items from the State Department to the Commerce Department, lowering trade barriers faced by the commercial space industry for years.
The U.S. will soon reduce licensing requirements for exports of certain space-related items to a range of countries and may transfer export control jurisdiction over other space-related defense items from the State Department to the Commerce Department, according to four rules released by the agencies Oct. 17. The rulemakings are designed to “modernize” U.S. export controls on space technologies, a senior Commerce official told reporters, including by easing restrictions on exports of less sensitive space technologies, certain spacecraft-related items and more.
Oregon-based aerospace parts manufacturer Precision Castparts Corp. was fined $3 million after the State Department said its subsidiary illegally shared technical data with employees who were foreign nationals of Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, Bhutan, Peru and Burundi, violating U.S. defense export controls.
Christopher Stagg, an export control lawyer and former official with the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, started a new role as assistant editor at Bartlett's Annotated International Traffic in Arms Regulations, he announced on LinkedIn. The regularly updated publication is run by trade lawyer Jim Bartlett and includes ITAR-related footnotes, appendixes with statutes, court cases, consent agreements, government guidance and user aids.