Control of arms exports and imports

No person may engage in the business of brokering activities described in subclause (I) without a license, issued in accordance with this chapter, except that no license shall be required for such activities undertaken by or for an agency of the United States Government— The prohibition under such regulations required by the second sentence of subparagraph (A) shall not extend to any military firearms (or ammunition, components, parts, accessories, and attachments for such firearms) of United States manufacture furnished to any foreign government by the United States under this chapter or any other foreign assistance or sales program of the United States if— For each of the fiscal years 1988 and 1989, $250,000 of registration fees collected pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be credited to a Department of State account, to be available without fiscal year limitation. Fees credited to that account shall be available only for the payment of expenses incurred for— Any person who willfully violates any provision of this section, section 2779 of this title, a treaty referred to in subsection (j)(1)(C)(i), or any rule or regulation issued under this section or section 2779 of this title, including any rule or regulation issued to implement or enforce a treaty referred to in subsection (j)(1)(C)(i) or an implementing arrangement pursuant to such treaty, or who willfully, in a registration or license application or required report, makes any untrue statement of a material fact or omits to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, shall upon conviction be fined for each violation not more than $1,000,000 or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both. In carrying out functions under this section with respect to the export of defense articles and defense services, including defense articles and defense services exported or imported pursuant to a treaty referred to in subsection (j)(1)(C)(i), the President is authorized to exercise the same powers concerning violations and enforcement which are conferred upon departments, agencies and officials by subsections (c) and (d) of section 1760 of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4819), and by subsections (a)(1), (a)(2), (a)(3), (a)(4), (a)(7), (c), and (h) of section 1761 of such Act (50 U.S.C. 4820), subject to the same terms and conditions as are applicable to such powers under such Act, except that section 1760(c)(2) of such Act (50 U.S.C. 4819(c)(2)) shall not apply, and instead, as prescribed in regulations issued under this section, the Secretary of State may assess civil penalties for violations of this chapter and regulations prescribed thereunder and further may commence a civil action to recover such civil penalties, and except further that the names of the countries and the types and quantities of defense articles for which licenses are issued under this section shall not be withheld from public disclosure unless the President determines that the release of such information would be contrary to the national interest. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as authorizing the withholding of information from the Congress. Notwithstanding section section 11 So in original. 1760(c) of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4819(c)), the civil penalty for each violation involving controls imposed on the export of defense articles and defense services under this section may not exceed the greater of $1,200,000 or the amount that is twice the value of the transaction that is the basis of the violation with respect to which the penalty is imposed..1 The President may not authorize an exemption for a foreign country from the licensing requirements of this chapter for the export of defense items under subsection (j) or any other provision of this chapter until 30 days after the date on which the President has transmitted to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a notification that includes— The President may authorize the transformation of any major defense equipment described in subparagraph (A) into a defense article if the President— The President shall ensure that any major defense equipment that is listed on the 600 series of the Commerce Control List contained in Supplement No. 1 to part 774 of subtitle B of title 15, Code of Federal Regulations, shall continue to be subject to the notification and reporting requirements of the following provisions of law: The President shall develop appropriate mechanisms to identify, in connection with the export licensing process under this section— persons who are the subject of an indictment for, or have been convicted of, a violation under— persons who are ineligible— If the President determines— A license to export an item on the United States Munitions List may not be issued to a person— For purposes of this subsection— the term “party to the export” means— The designation by the President (or by an official to whom the President’s functions under subsection (a) have been duly delegated), in regulations issued under this section, of items as defense articles or defense services for purposes of this section shall not be subject to judicial review. As prescribed in regulations issued under this section, a United States person to whom a license has been granted to export an item on the United States Munitions List shall, not later than 15 days after the item is exported, submit to the Department of State a report containing all shipment information, including a description of the item and the quantity, value, port of exit, and end-user and country of destination of the item. The President may utilize the regulatory or other authority pursuant to this chapter to exempt a foreign country from the licensing requirements of this chapter with respect to exports of defense items only if the United States Government has concluded a binding bilateral agreement with the foreign country. Such agreement shall— The requirement to conclude a bilateral agreement in accordance with subparagraph (A) shall not apply with respect to an exemption for Canada from the licensing requirements of this chapter for the export of defense items. The requirement to conclude a bilateral agreement in accordance with subparagraph (A) shall not apply with respect to an exemption from the licensing requirements of this chapter for the export of defense items to give effect to any of the following defense trade cooperation treaties, provided that the treaty has entered into force pursuant to article II, section 2, clause 2 of the Constitution of the United States: The United States shall exempt from the scope of a treaty referred to in clause (i)— A bilateral agreement referred to in paragraph (1)— shall, at a minimum, require the foreign country, as necessary, to revise its policies and practices, and promulgate or enact necessary modifications to its laws and regulations to establish an export control regime that is at least comparable to United States law, regulation, and policy requiring— should, at a minimum, require the foreign country, as necessary, to revise its policies and practices, and promulgate or enact necessary modifications to its laws and regulations to establish an export control regime that is at least comparable to United States law, regulation, and policy regarding— Not less than 30 days before authorizing an exemption for a foreign country from the licensing requirements of this chapter for the export of defense items, the President shall transmit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a certification that— In this section: The term “defense items” means defense articles, defense services, and related technical data. The term “appropriate congressional committees” means— A license or other approval from the Department of State granted in accordance with this section may also authorize the export of items subject to the Export Administration Regulations if such items are to be used in or with defense articles controlled on the United States Munitions List. The following requirements shall apply with respect to a license or other approval to authorize the export of items subject to the Export Administration Regulations under paragraph (1): In this subsection, the term “Export Administration Regulations” means— Not later than 120 days after December 22, 2023, the President shall determine and certify in writing, and include a detailed justification, to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives whether Australia or the United Kingdom has— If the President makes the determination that Australia or the United Kingdom meets the comparability standards of clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (A), the justification required by such subparagraph shall include an assessment of how the country satisfied the specific elements described in such clauses. If the President makes a determination that Australia or the United Kingdom does not meet the comparability standards of clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (A), the justification required by such subparagraph shall include, as applicable— The determination and certification described in subparagraph (A) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex. Upon submittal of a determination and certification to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives that Australia or the United Kingdom has met the comparability standards of clauses (i) and (ii) of paragraph (1)(A), and subject to the limitation in paragraph (4), the President shall immediately exempt from the licensing or other approval requirements of this section exports and transfers (including reexports, transfers, temporary imports, and brokering activities) of defense articles and defense services between the United States and that country or among the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. The congressional notification requirements of subsections (c) and (d) of section 2776 of this title shall not apply with respect to the export or transfer of defense articles or defense services subject to the exemption described in this paragraph. If the President is unable to make a determination that Australia or the United Kingdom has met the comparability standards of clauses (i) and (ii) of paragraph (1)(A) or suspends the exemption pursuant to paragraph (5), the President shall— Upon any reassessment under subparagraph (A) in which the President determines that Australia or the United Kingdom has met the comparability standards of clauses (i) and (ii) of paragraph (1)(A), the President shall immediately provide to that country an exemption described in paragraph (2). If the President finds in any reassessment under subparagraph (A) that Australia or the United Kingdom has not met the comparability standards of clauses (i) and (ii) of paragraph (1)(A), the written reassessment shall include, as applicable— The reassessment described in subparagraph (A)(ii) shall be submitted in an unclassified form, but may include a classified annex. An exemption described in paragraph (2) shall not apply to any activity (including exports, transfers, reexports, retransfers, temporary imports, or brokering) of defense articles and defense services between or among the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia that— involve individuals or entities that are not approved by— The President may suspend an exemption described in paragraph (2) with respect to Australia or the United Kingdom if the President determines and certifies in writing, and includes a detailed justification, to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives that— The justification required to be included in the determination and certification described in subparagraph (A) shall also include a description of the specific actions the United States and the country are taking to address the reasons for the suspension. The determination and certification described in subparagraph (A) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex. If the President reissues an exemption described in paragraph (2) with respect to Australia or the United Kingdom that the President suspended pursuant to subparagraph (A), the President shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives a report stating the steps the country took that allowed the exemption to be so reinstated. Paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of section 2753(d) of this title shall not apply to any export or transfer that is the subject of an exemption described in paragraph (2). The Secretary of State shall— Defense articles sold by the United States under this chapter, whether pursuant to the exemption authorized under this section or pursuant to an exemption under another authority under this chapter, may be reexported, retransferred or temporarily imported exclusively between the Government of Australia, the Government of the United Kingdom, or entities described in paragraph (b) of section 126.7(b)(2) of title 22, Code of Federal Regulations, or successor regulations, that are eligible for the exemption described in paragraph (a) of such section, notwithstanding the requirement for the consent of the President under section 2753(a)(2) of this title or section 2314(a)(1)(B) of this title. Intra-company, intra-organization, and intra-governmental transfers related to defense articles described in subparagraph (A) are authorized to be made between officers, employees, and agents who meet the definition of the term “regular employee” under section 120.64 of title 22, Code of Federal Regulations, or successor regulations, including dual nationals or third-country nationals who satisfy the requirements of section 126.18 of title 22, Code of Federal Regulations, or successor regulations. Any exemption described in paragraph (2) shall terminate on the date that is 15 years after December 22, 2023. The Secretary of State may renew such exemption for 5 years upon a certification to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives that such exemption is in the vital national interest of the United States with a detailed justification for such certification.