Effective May 6, 2009, the Commerce Department revised the Commerce Control List (CCL) to remove all references to the CCL having export/reexport jurisdiction over the T-37 military jet trainer aircraft and specially designed components. Although the T-37 appeared on the CCL, the CCL did not have jurisdiction over the T-37 because the US Munitions List in the International Traffic in Arms Regulations had jurisdiction over the T-37. BIS removed the misleading CCL claim of jurisdiction over the T-37 to reduce confusion by the public.
Archive for the ‘Aerospace’ Category
BIS Deletes Misleading Jurisdiction Claim over T-37
Friday, May 1st, 2009 by Danielle McClellan“Gee, They Looked Like Model Airplane Components to Me!” Says Not-the-Smartest-Violator
Friday, February 13th, 2009 by Danielle McClellanYaming Nina Qi Hanson of Silver Spring, Maryland has been charged with exporting autopilot circuits to China without a license. Yaming’s husband, Harold Hanson has been named a co-conspirator but has not yet been charged. (more…)
CSIS: US Export Controls Harming US Space Industry
Sunday, March 30th, 2008 by Danielle McClellanThe Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington research group has released a 63 page report on the Health of the US Space Industrial Base and the Impact of Export Controls. The main concern from the report was that the US export controls that were tightening almost 10 years ago are hindering the US share of the global space markets.
The US tightened space technology-transfer rules in 1999 after investigators found China has acquired sensitive technology from US built commercial satellites. When the new rules were implemented they put commercial communications satellites, subsystems, and components on a munitions list that became subject to State Department licensing even if the product could be easily purchases worldwide.
The overall health of the top-tier manufactures in the industry such as Lockheed Martin Corp., Boeing Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp. all had “good financial health” despite the US industry’s loss of shares overseas. The report shows that Russia, China and others are gaining space market share aided by the US policy. Jeffery Foust, a space and telecommunications expert at Futron Corp explained that the US policy backfired in space. “The US is actually hurting national security by making it more difficult for the space companies it depends on to compete in the global market,” he said.
The study concluded that the ability for the government and industry to meet program execution commitments is inadequate and that there was a unanimous agreement that the export control process can be improved without adversely affecting national security.
More information:
Wang-Woodford Arrested for Sending Helicopter Components to Iran via Singapore
Friday, February 1st, 2008 by Danielle McClellanLaura Wang-Woodford, director of Monarch Aviation Pte, Ltd. (“Monarch”) of Singapore was arrested and has been arraigned on a 20-count federal indictment. Wang-Woodford is accused of exporting components for Chinook military helicopters from the US to Singapore and then to Iran in violation of the International Emergency Powers Act, after identifying them as commercial components.
Ms Wang-Woodford and her husband ran Monarch, which has been importing and exporting military and commercial aircraft components for more than 16 years. Brian Woodford remains fugitive since his wife was arrested on December 23, 2007 at San Francisco International Airport.
The indictment charges consist of charges of:
- Conspiring to export aircraft parts to Iran
- Several counts of exporting aircraft parts to Iran against the IEEPA
- Conspiring to export defense articles without a license
- Exporting and attempting to export defense articles without a license in violation of the AECA and ITAR
- Conspiring to launder the proceeds of the unlawful export of defense articles
- Illegal export of US military aircraft components
- Falsely identifying components in export documents filed to the US government
- Conspiring to transmit funds from Singapore to Cincinnati, Ohio with the intent to promote the illegal export scheme in violation of the federal money laundering statutes
Another US Administration Says ITAR License Review Will Get Better
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008 by John BlackPresident Bush issued an Export Control Directive on January 22, 2008, the directive is presumed to improve the way in which the Department of State responds to the many licenses it receives for the export of defense equipment, services, and technical data. Bush promised, “a more efficient and transparent export license process” and better “dispute resolution mechanisms” but was sure to include that there will remain a strong monitor on protecting national security.
The specific changes include:
- Additional financial resources and intelligence support to provide timely adjudication of defense trade licenses
- New guidelines requiring decisions by the U.S. Government on defense trade export license applications within 60 days unless there is strong reason for additional time which must be approved
- The electronic licensing system will be upgraded to allow all types of defense trade licenses and their submission
- An interagency will be created to allow for timely resolution of licensing jurisdiction issues under the Commodity Jurisdiction process
- A multi-agency working group will be created to improve procedures for export enforcement investigations
E-Business Bad Idea: Selling F-4 and F-14 Parts on a Website
Friday, October 5th, 2007 by Danielle McClellanImmigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents revealed a website run by Abraham Trujillo and David Waye which listed both F-14 and F-4 parts for sale. The website company, NSN Specialists, attempted to export the parts without a license. The ICE agents tracked the company over the next several months and eventually set up a sting operation to arrest the men.
Trujillo and Waye would repackage the parts and assign them commercial part numbers and even invoiced them as “gear sprockets” to guarantee that the parts would not be conspicuous. They intended on exporting the parts to Canada where they would then go to Iran where the only F-14 are flown.
The men are charged by the U.S. Attorney for Utah with 3 felony counts. The felony information includes attempted export of the F-14 and F-4 fighter aircraft parts without a license, attempted export of F-14 wiring harnesses and impeller assemblies and the repackaging to the goods.
Another Group Complains about the ITAR
Saturday, September 29th, 2007 by John BlackDuring the 58th International Astronautical Congress in Hyderabad, India, many speakers from emerging space nations all voiced a concern over the United States International Traffic and Arms Regulations (ITAR). The speakers charged that the United States ITAR is holding back growth in the industry. All of the speakers made a point to explain that both cooperation and competition were necessary to ensure growth of the space industry, and the ITAR is holding emerging space nations back.
China claimed that the U.S. policy was the largest hurdle to be faced by the growth of new actors in the industry, while India claimed that there is more risk to non-US players because of the ITAR rules
(Hmmmm, I guess the US Government is glad to hear that news, because that is exactly the intent of the ITAR. — John Black)
Hua Changzhi, vice president of China Great Wall Corp. pointed out those U.S. satellite manufacturers had lost market share in recent years, he remarked, “This is the price paid by U.S. policy”. Ray A. Williamson, research professor, Space Policy Institute at George Washington University in the United States said that change in ITAR would make it easier for the international space industry to operate, “unfortunately, given the current political situation in the United States, I don’t think ITAR regime will change for the next five to ten years”.
Executive director of Antrix Corp Ltd, the commercial arm of Indian Space Research Organization, K.R. Sridhara Murthy called for addressing certain issues at a political level especially regarding the export policies of advanced countries. Murthy also called for a unified licensing system for space services and complementary ground services and also underlined a need to change policy and regulations to facilitate easy access to remote sensing data used by many companies. Another one of his concerns was the merger of smaller companies with the “big players” in the industry, explaining that the dominant players in the industry hurt the market and consumers. The industry is also faced with the fact that the orbit and spectrum resources are in the hands of the governments.
More information:
US regulations restrict space industry growth (Earth Times)
US regulations restrict space industry growth (India PR Wire)
Thales Builds ITAR-Free Satellite for China: Avoiding ITAR Components Adds 6% to Sales Price
Monday, July 30th, 2007 by John BlackPeter Selding of SPACE.com reported China has successfully launched a Thales satellite that did not contain any US components controlled by the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (“ITAR”). Any non-US origin satellite with one or more ITAR-controlled part (regardless of value) would require approval by the US State Department for transfer to China — and the State Department would not approve transfers of any commercial communication satellite with ITAR content to China. The Thales ITAR-free satellite proves that it is possible for companies to build satellites and sell them without having to deal with the cumbersome and sometimes prohibitive ITAR controls.
According to the report, the Chinasat 6B telecommunications satellite is the fourth satellite built for the Chinese satellite-fleet operators by Thales Alenia Space. And it looks like it doesn’t cost all that much to avoid ITAR components. According to the report, avoiding ITAR restrictions added approximately six percent to the cost of the satellite due to lack of options in choosing more competitive parts suppliers and the currency used in payment. Thales Alenia Space has pointed out going to a fully ITAR-free product line is out of the question because of the risk of not being able to keep up with the market demand as ITAR-free satellites rely on a supply chain that would have difficulty increasing deliveries in the short term. This sale might be a scary prospect for US satellite makers and US satellite component suppliers. The State Department will not approve license for transfers of US satellites or foreign-origin satellites with US content to China. Now Thales seems to have a monopoly on sales of satellites to China, or, at least Thales is going to get sales that neither US satellite manufacturers nor any foreign manufacturers who use ITAR components will get. Clearly, in attempting to prevent satellite sales to China, the US has used the ITAR to dam up most of the river while leaving an opening wide enough to launch a Thales satellite through. So, the Chinese get communication satellites and US manufacturers get bumpkiss (i.e., nothing). Well, perhaps US policy makers still feel good about the symbolic nature of the US “no satellite sales to China” policy, and as US policy makers are perched high atop their self-designated moral high ground, they will have a clear view of the ITAR-free satellite sales to China.
I will not ask if anybody in the US Government has unofficially threatened Thales or attempted to convince Thales to not go down the ITAR-free path.
Commerce and State Change Jurisdiction for Rad-Hardened Microelectronic Circuits
Monday, July 30th, 2007 by John BlackThe Commerce and State departments published changes to their respective export control regulations, the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) to change the scope of radiation hardened microelectronic circuits that are subject to the export jurisdiction of the ITAR.
Specifically, in Category XV of the US Munitions List in the ITAR, paragraph (d)(4) was changed from single event upset rate of 1 X 10 to the minus seven power to a single event upset rate of 1 X 10 to the minus ten power.
This paragraph (d) in Category XV controls any device with all five of the rad hardening characteristics in (d)(1) – (5). If a device does not have all five of those characteristics, it falls under the jurisdiction of the EAR. Of course, any device designed, modified, configured or adapted for space use falls under the ITAR regardless of its rad hardening characteristics.
Gonzales and Justice Department Raises Their Export Control Enforcement Profile
Saturday, June 30th, 2007 by Guest AuthorThe first-ever National Export Control Coordinator for the Department of Justice was appointed last June 20, 2007. Steven W. Pelak, a veteran prosecutor for 18 years, has been an Assistant U.S. Attorney and Senior Litigation Counsel in the National Security Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and, since September 2001, has served as the Anti- Terrorism Coordinator for the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Mr. Pelak is detailed to the Counter-espionage Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, wherein he will have some of the following responsibilities:
- development of comprehensive training materials on export control investigations and prosecutions for federal prosecutors nationwide
- solicit and receive regular progress reports from U.S. Attorneys’ offices on the development of export control cases
- coordinate between the Justice Department and the many other U.S. law enforcement, licensing and intelligence agencies that play a role in export enforcement.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales mentioned in his June 11 speech on nuclear terrorism that the Justice Department’s National Security Division where federal prosecutors were provided instruction and guidance on export control cases, with trainers from the Justice Department and the relevant investigative agents on hand providing comprehensive prosecutorial instruction.
