The Department of State proposes amendments to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) focused on revisions to U.S. Munitions List (USML) Categories IV (Missiles and Launch Systems) and XV (Spacecraft and Space Items). The aim is to modernize the regulatory text, clarify definitions, and align the controls with national security and foreign policy objectives.

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security  has released three rules—one Final Rule, one Interim Final Rule, and one Proposed Rule—to modernize BIS’s space-related export controls. The proposed revisions remove certain licensing requirements for Australia, Canada and The UK; looser rules for another 40 destinations; and transfer of certain items from the US Munitions List to the Commerce Control List.

In a case illustrating the long arm of US sanctions enforcement, Hanoi - based Vietnam Beverage Company Limited has agreed to pay $860,000  on behalf of two of its subsidiaries for apparent violations of OFAC sanctions on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).  The Thai-controlled brewer settled potential fines of nearly $16 million related to $1.4 million of shopments to North Korea.

BIS Wedensday published Federal Register notices soliciting comments on Cuban Agricultural trade licensing processes.  The Bureau also updated a table associated with with License Exceptions and made additions and deletions to the Unverified List.

The End-Use Certificate (DLA Form 1822) is submitted by individuals prior to releasing export-controlled personal property out of DoD control. Export-controlled personal property are items listed on the United States Munitions Lists or Commerce Control List, and includes articles, items, technical data, technology, or software. Transfers of export- controlled personal property out of DoD control may be in tangible and intangible forms.

The Emerging Technology Technical Advisory Committee (ETTAC) will meet on October 21, 2024, and The Sensors and Instrumentation Technical Advisory Committee (Committee) will meet on Tuesday, October 29, 2024

On September 23, the Inspector General's Office of the Department of Commerce released its audit of the Bureau of Industry and Security’s (BIS’) efforts to "counter China’s Military-Civilian Fusion strategy"   The auditors found the BIS export license approval process "adequate in reducing the risk" of controlled items being inappropriately approved for export to China. However, they found that BIS has "not minimized the risk of unauthorized release of controlled technologies and software to China."

House Republican national security leadership called for the White House to expand license-free defense trade among the U.S., U.K., and Australia to ensure the success of AUKUS Pillar Two and "unleash the combined potential of the three countries’ defense industrial bases to counter the Chinese Communist Party." The lawmakers contend the Excluded Technologies List (ETL) "jeopardizes the viability of Pillar Two."

The Department of Commerce has expanded the Validated End User (VEU) program with additional controls for data center items destined for China and India. Data Center VEU adopts much of the framework of the existing VEU program, with additional requirements. This expansion of eligibility is intended to update the VEU program to recognize the advancement and benefits of artificial intelligence.

In response to requests from the public, The Departments of State and Commerce extended the comment period for their rule changes proposed 29 July impacting ITAR definitions of "defense services," and EAR restrictions on end user and Commerce Control List-based controls. Comments are now due by 15 October.

AUKUS Defense ministers met in London Thursday to review the partnership and "reiterate their shared commitments for the decades to come," according to a readout of the conference.  

The Chairs of the House China and Education Committees raised concerns that decades of federally funded research has benefited the defense and security establishments of the PRC.  

In a statement to mark the third anniversary of AUKUS, the leaders of Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, reaffirmed their commitment to this historic partnership and acknowledged progress to date.   

The governments of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States met as the “Export Enforcement Five” (E5) in their second annual conference in Washington, D.C. The group's statement noted their efforts to prevent the diversion of sensitive technologies and materials that support Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Among the China Week Legislation, the House of Representatives passed a bill amending the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (ECRA) to include trade secret protections. If enacted, this would expand regulatory authority over information not currently covered by U.S. export control laws. As a result, U.S. companies may need government approval before disclosing trade secrets, even in non-traditional export transactions, and may face stricter requirements for safeguarding such information.

The UAE's ambition to become a world leader in artificial intelligence, funded and endorsed by both Chinese and US tech interests, are constrained by  Washington's export controls, according to one of the effort's principal American sponsors. “We all need clarity and consistency from the US government in terms of the specifics of the export control regime," Brad Smith, President of Microsoft told the Financial Times.

The U.S. Department of Defense and Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) participated in the third India-U.S. Defense Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X) Summit in Silicon Valley, California on Monday, …

BIS has recently updated its Guidelines for Preparing Export License Applications Involving Foreign Persons (Deemed Exports/Reexports). Deemed exports are most often encountered in the employment context however, this guidance also addresses license submission requirements related to releases of controlled “technology” and “source code” to foreign persons in other contexts, such as foreign students participating in collaborative research when there are restrictions on publication or foreign students participating in curricular practical training (CPT) or optional practical training (OPT).

The Commerce Department should adopt a blanket “presumption of denial” posture for export license applications that would send critical technology to any entity based in China, according to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla). Commerce should impose the strict controls because of the demonstrably high risk that such applications are intended to circumvent export controls, the senator said.

Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is implementing export controls on several semiconductor, quantum, and additive manufacturing items with an interim final rule published September 6th.   The rule adds and revises Export Control Classification Numbers (ECCNs) in the Commerce Control List, adds a new license exception for countries that have implemented equivalent technical controls, and adds two new worldwide license requirements to the national security and regional stability controls in the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). The new controls include a limited number of deemed export requirements in the sectors of quantum computers, materials, and related electronic assemblies; aerospace technology; and integrated circuit “development” or “production.”