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.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The State Department has completed a round of interagency review for a proposed rule that could revise the International Traffic in Arms Regulations by updating export controls on certain launch vehicles, ballistic missiles and other items in Category IV of the U.S. Munitions List and spacecraft and related items in Category XV of the USML. The rule, sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Sept. 17 and completed Oct. 10, would "describe more precisely the articles warranting control on the USML," the agency said, and build on an advance notice of proposed rulemaking issued in March 2019 that solicited comments on the changes.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
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.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls recently updated its list of commodity jurisdiction (CJ) determinations, which DDTC issues after receiving requests from industry to determine whether a commodity or service is covered by the U.S. Munitions List. The table includes several new CJ determinations issued in September, including certain subassemblies for tactical unmanned aerial vehicles, which DDTC classified as USML Category VIII(f); an item that allows helicopters to carry sling loads and serves as “a conduit for electric actuation of remote hooks and other electrically operated equipment,” which it classified under the Export Administration Regulations as EAR99; and a digital fuel gauge that it classified as USML Category VIII(h)(1).
John Austerman, a former Pentagon official, is starting a new job as a division chief with the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, he announced last week on LinkedIn. The bureau oversees the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, the agency responsible for implementing and enforcing the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. Austerman most recently worked for the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., urged the Biden administration this week to expand the export control exemption it intends to give Australia and the U.K. under the AUKUS security partnership.
LONDON -- Officials at a defense industry conference last week were complimentary of defense export control reforms recently announced by the U.S., Australia and the U.K., but they also said the three governments can do more to incentivize companies to make use of the reforms.
Jae Shin, director of compliance for the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, is on a professional sabbatical this year studying at the National War College, which educates government officials on national security strategy and similar topics, a State Department spokesperson said. John Foster, DDTC’s division chief for compliance and enforcement, is filling in for Shin. Foster’s official title during Shin’s sabbatical is acting director of compliance.