The Biden administration this week plans to “unveil” new human rights-related export control measures as part of the second Summit for Democracy, a senior administration official said. The measures will show how the U.S. and its allies have so far implemented the Export Controls and Human Rights Initiative, an effort announced at the first democracy summit in 2021 that was designed to lead to better guardrails on exports of surveillance items and other technologies (see 2112090030).
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week suspended the export privileges of nine people, after eight of them were convicted of illegally exporting guns and ammunition, and one person was convicted of illegally smuggling pumps and engines.
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas dismissed a suit against the State Department concerning the regulation of 3D gun file exports, saying the claims are moot because the State Department shifted export control responsibility to the Commerce Department. Judge Robert Pitman dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction, saying plaintiffs Defense Distributed and Second Amendment Foundation failed to show the State Department still regulated the exports. Pitman also ruled that Defense Distributed's claim for monetary damages against the State Department belongs "to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Court of Federal Claims."
The House this week passed a bill that would direct the State Department to report to Congress on export-related issues under the Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) partnership (see 2303130035). The bill, which passed 393-4, also would require the agency to provide information on the average processing times for defense-related export license applications involving Australia and the U.K., information on voluntary disclosures of ITAR violations, ITAR penalties involving the two countries, and an “assessment of recommended improvements to export control laws.” The legislation is viewed as the first step toward potential revision of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, the U.S. defense export regulations that industry experts and others say prevent technology sharing and collaboration with close allies (see 2302170022, 2303170045 and 2303140018).
The Bureau of Industry and Security will soon request feedback from industry, academia and others on key differences in U.S. and EU interpretations of export control provisions, said Charles Wall, BIS’ senior policy adviser for the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council. Wall, speaking during a BIS technical advisory committee meeting this week, said the notice will ask for “very specific information” on discrepancies between the two territories' export control regimes and ways those rules can be harmonized.
U.S. defense export regulations are the “biggest speed bump” and need to be addressed to foster closer technology collaboration between the U.S. and allies, former Navy Secretary Richard Spencer said this week. Spencer, speaking at the National Press Club of Australia, said the International Traffic in Arms Regulations “has to be addressed; it will be addressed,” according to a March 20 report from InnovationAus.
The U.S. needs to reform the International Traffic in Arms Regulations to allow it to more easily share controlled technologies with the U.K., Australia and other close allies (see 2302170022), experts said last week. If Congress and the administration don’t move quickly to relax ITAR restrictions, the Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) partnership will fail, they said, and U.S. military capabilities could fall behind China and other countries.
Democrats and Republicans applauded the Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) partnership announcement this week, saying the delivery of nuclear-powered submarines to Australia will help shore up security in the Indo-Pacific 2303130035). But lawmakers also said the U.S. should do more to make sure it can easily share sensitive technology within the group, adding that they would support legislation that would revise U.S. defense export regulations.
The U.S. this week released a timeline for sharing sensitive nuclear submarine technology with Australia, saying the country will be operating nuclear-powered submarines before the end of the 2030s. The Biden administration also said it’s considering revising its defense export controls to allow it to more easily share controlled technologies with allies, including within the Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) partnership.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls will hold a webinar March 21 on the Defense Export Control and Compliance System (DECCS). It will include a refresher on using DECCS, information on commodity jurisdictions, advisory opinions, registration and licensing applications and “an overview of new updates” for the application. The webinar, hosted with the Census Bureau, will also cover “important process updates to Electronic Export Information (EEI) filings through the Automated Export System (AES) when citing United States Munitions List (USML) Category XXI.”