Processing of most export license applications, as well as sanctions licenses, will pause during the government shutdown that began Oct. 1, although export enforcement operations and national security-related investigations will continue, the Commerce, State and Treasury departments said this week.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is rolling back a Biden-era interim final rule that increased restrictions on firearms exports, the agency said in a final rule effective Sept. 30. BIS said it decided that the rule should be “rescinded in its entirety” after hearing from U.S. firearms manufacturers that the controls “would cost them hundreds of millions of dollars per year in lost sales.”
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The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls last week released its notifications to Congress of recently proposed export licenses. The notifications, which cover licenses submitted from April through June, include exports to Germany, Ukraine, Italy, the Netherlands, the U.K., Denmark, Saudi Arabia, Australia and elsewhere.
Recent updates to the U.S. Munitions List (see 2508260011) may be causing error messages for licenses submitted in the State Department’s Defense Export Control and Compliance System, State said this week.
The State Department has been approving the vast majority of export license applications involving South Korea, a senior agency official said this week, stressing that the government doesn’t want to be an impediment to defense trade with the close U.S. ally.
The State Department’s Defense Export Control and Compliance System will undergo maintenance from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET Sept. 15. "Industry users may experience service degradation, interruptions, or limited application functionality within DECCS during this maintenance window," the agency said. "If you experience any issues, please log back in after the maintenance window."
The State Department’s recently published spring 2025 regulatory agenda previews several export control rules that the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls is hoping to issue this year, including revisions to the U.S. Munitions List, updates to the definition for defense services, updates to its AUKUS exemption, and more.
The State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls will again renew relaxed export restrictions for certain defense goods and services involving Cyprus, it said in a final rule released this week and effective Oct. 1. The agency has issued the renewal each year since 2020 (see 2309130028), suspending its policy of denial for exports, reexports and transfers of defense articles on the U.S. Munitions List to Cyprus. The move also suspends the policy of denial for retransfers and temporary imports destined for or originating in Cyprus and brokering activities involving Cyprus. The latest renewal expires Sept. 30, 2026.
A new executive order signed last week by President Donald Trump authorizes sanctions and export controls against any country determined to have wrongfully detained U.S. nationals. The order allows the State Department to designate certain foreign countries a State Sponsor of Wrongful Detention, which would authorize International Emergency Economic Powers Act sanctions against the country and export controls under the Arms Export Control Act, the Export Control Reform Act “or any other Federal law.”