This week of September 16, Paris will play host to the biggest spectacle of the year (sorry, Olympics), the World Space Business Week. Attendees will come from around the world to discuss advancements in commercial space and global satellite infrastructure. However, it will be the representatives of Australian, UK, and U.S. companies that may have the most to talk about.Continue Reading A (r)AUKUS Discussion in the Space Industry
The U.S. State Department has proposed amendments to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) to increase the fees required for Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) registration. The ITAR requires persons engaging in manufacturing, exporting, temporarily importing, or brokering of any defense articles or services register with DDTC. This proposed rule marks the first adjustment to the registration fee structure in over fifteen years.Continue Reading ITAR Fees Overhaul: Navigating the New Registration Costs
When can an employer use the “national security exception” under U.S. anti-discrimination law to make a hiring decision based on the national origin of the candidate? An often overlooked area of compliance is how to comply with anti-discrimination law when the job will include access to export-controlled data.Continue Reading Don’t Let the Government Name, Shame, and Fine You – Export Controls Do NOT Excuse Hiring Discrimination
Hiring employees does not usually call to mind international trade compliance obligations. However, together U.S. export controls and anti-discrimination laws create a web that is overlooked or misunderstood by many types of employers of all sizes across many industries. Anti-discrimination laws prohibit unlawful citizenship status restrictions when hiring, and U.S. export controls prohibit disclosing controlled information to foreign nationals without authorization. Together, these law limit acceptable job descriptions and hiring practices.
Continue Reading Export Control HR Pitfalls To Avoid When Hiring
The scenario happens all the time:
Your engineering department has identified a need for more personnel who will work with export-controlled information. Management has approved the hiring, and your Human Resources manager has drafted the job posting.
What could go wrong? Export controls and anti-discrimination laws require employers to navigate an often-overlooked fine line when recruiting and hiring foreign nationals for positions involving export controlled information.Continue Reading Refresher: How to Comply With U.S. Export Controls and Anti-Discrimination Laws When Recruiting and Hiring Foreign Nationals
Taking a break from reporting on COVID-19 legal developments, we turn for a moment to what is happening now on export control of autonomous vehicle technology.
The autonomous vehicle R&D sector is booming, largely in the last three years. Companies are investing in sensor technology and machine learning, and creating pilot programs to test self-driving cars both for individuals and ride-sharing purposes.Continue Reading The Emerging Landscape for Export Controls on Autonomous Vehicle Technology
On November 26, 2019, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued a proposed rule that could change how you procure IT goods and services.
The rule
On March 8, the U.S. government signaled regulatory changes that may create new opportunities for international collaboration on satellite development, global sales of satellite and launch equipment, and even sharing launch technology.
. . . and the Government wants you to weigh in.
Continue Reading Clear for More Takeoffs: Now is the Time to Have Your Voice Heard on New Satellite and Launch Regulations
In our blog shop, most of the news we scan is the nerdy minutia of regulatory nuance. But the other day, we found big news, a real scoop. The ITAR will be rewritten to remove guns and ammunition from its control.
Yes, you read that correctly, a plan has been proposed within the State Department to migrate the first three categories of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) to the control of the Export Administration Regulations within the coming year. Whether the State Department will go so far as to rename ITAR Part 121 the United States Munitions List (USML), the “United States List” remains to be seen.
Continue Reading The United States Munitions List: When Guns Come Off of the ITAR
The United States has a responsibility, or so the State Department tells us, to ensure the sales and exports of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) are consistent with U.S. national security interests, U.S. policy, and even U.S. values. While the government would be glad to keep the export of military drones in lock-step with our policy goals, the realities of a rapidly expanding UAS market and global competition has forced export regulators to consider how to balance the potential loss of economic opportunity against the loss of control of UAS technology.
Continue Reading Read the Directions Carefully Before Playing: State Department Releases Military Drone Export Guidance
Every time there is a new round of reforms under the President’s Export Control Reform initiative, we hear the same advice:
Attorneys in the export control space correspondingly inundate us with articles advising, in effect, call your export control lawyer.Continue Reading Military Electronics Export Reform: Let the Chips Fall Where They May