Export Control in the United States

Export Control Reform

In August 2009, the Obama Administration directed a broad-based interagency review of the U.S. Export Control System (ECR), with the goal of strengthening national security and the competitiveness of key U.S. manufacturing and technology sectors by focusing on current threats, as well as adapting to the changing economic and technological landscape. This review determined that the current export control system is overly complicated, contains too many redundancies, and, in trying to protect too much, diminishes our ability to focus our efforts on the most critical national security priorities.

As a result, the Administration launched the Export Control Reform Initiative (ECR Initiative), which will fundamentally reform the U.S. export control system. The ECR Initiative, which is not related to the President’s National Export Initiative, is designed to enhance U.S. national security and strengthen the United States’ ability to counter threats such as the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The Administration implemented the reform in three phases. Phases I and II reconcile various definitions, regulations, and policies for export controls, all the while building toward Phase III, which will create a single control list, single licensing agency, unified information technology system, and enforcement coordination center. As of August 2015, Phase I is finished and Phase II is nearly complete.

Control Lists and Licensing

As of October 2016, eighteen of the twenty-one categories of the United States Munitions List have been revised and published for public comment; fifteen of them have been published as final rules. For the items moved to the Commerce Control List (CCL), new licensing policies are in effect that allow for streamlined exports of most items to the ultimate government end-use for 36 U.S. allies and most countries that are members of all four multilateral export control regimes. For more information on the status of the rule review process, please refer to Fact Sheet 3 – Rebuilding the Control Lists or the Control List “Tracker” (PDF) (Accessible Version).

Enforcement

Progress was made in updating the export enforcement system. On November 9, 2010, the President signed Executive Order 13558, establishing an Export Enforcement Coordination Center (E2C2) among the Departments of State, the Treasury, Defense, Justice, Commerce, Energy, and Homeland Security as well as the Intelligence Community. The Department of Homeland Security administers the E2C2 and provides its Director. There are two Deputy Directors, one from the Department of Commerce and one from the Department of Justice. On March 7, 2012, the E2C2 officially opened with the following missions:

• De-conflict criminal and administrative enforcement operations and coordination of industry enforcement outreach activity;
• Provide a conduit between Federal law enforcement agencies and the U.S. Intelligence Community;
• Serve as the primary point of contact between enforcement agencies and export licensing agencies for enforcement and licensing matters;
• Resolve interagency conflicts not settled in the field; and
• Establish government-wide statistical tracking capabilities for U.S. export enforcement activities.

Brokers

Find more information on Brokers in relation to the Export Control in Merger and Acquisitions in the legal Encyclopedias.

Export Control and the International Trade Law

Concept of Export Control in Foreign Trade

A definition of Export Control in relation with foreign trade is provided here: Governmental control of exports for statistical or strategic and short supply or national security purposes, and/or for foreign policy purposes.

Concept of Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) in Foreign Trade

A definition of Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) in relation with foreign trade is provided here: The number used to identify items on the CCL, Supplement No. 1 to Part 774 of the EAR. The ECCN consists of a set of digits and a letter. Items that are not classified under an ECCN are designated “EAR99.” Section 738.2 of the EAR describes the ECCN format.

Resources

See Also

Further Reading

• Export Control entry in the Dictionary of International Trade Law (Raj Bhala)
• Export Control entry in the Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History (Thomas Carson; Mary Bonk)
• Export Control entry in the Dictionary of International Trade
• Export Control entry in the Dictionary of International Trade: Handbook of the Global Trade Community (Edward G. Hinkelman)