International Traffic in Arms Regulations: Clarifying Policies of Denial, Updating the Major Non-NATO Ally List, and Minor Corrections

Mechanism

The Department of State's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) amends 22 CFR §126.1 (policy of denial / proscribed destinations) and related ITAR parts covering license exemptions and defense-trade cooperation. Three distinct changes are bundled into this one rule:

• Ethiopia: removes Ethiopia from the ITAR policy of denial for

exports of defense articles/services to its armed forces, police, intelligence and internal-security forces, implementing a February 5, 2026 Secretary of State determination. This reverses the denial posture put in place during the 2020-22 Tigray war.

• Somalia: updates Somalia's country-specific ITAR policy (the

primary source text should be consulted for the exact provision changed; not independently confirmed beyond the Federal Register abstract at filing time).

• Saudi Arabia and Peru: codifies their designation as Major

Non-NATO Allies (Presidential determinations of January 13 and 14, 2026), which under the ITAR unlocks certain license exemptions, priority processing of license applications, and eligibility for cooperative defense R&D&T&E arrangements.

Downstream implications

• US defense exporters gain an easier licensing path for Ethiopian

security-force end-users, reversing a multi-year denial posture tied to the Tigray conflict.

• Saudi Arabia and Peru move into the MNNA tier alongside long-standing

members (e.g., Israel, Japan, South Korea, Australia), which typically accelerates FMS/DCS licensing timelines and expands license-exemption eligibility for US primes selling into both markets.

• No new restriction is introduced by this rule; it is a bundle of

relaxations plus a Somalia policy update whose direction is not established here.

Severity rating

Rated 2 (qual): the rule discloses no tariff rate, quota, or trade-value figure — it is a licensing-policy and country-status change. Severity reflects a real but bounded shift in a small set of bilateral defense-trade relationships, not a broad sectoral or economy-wide measure.

Open questions

• What specifically changed in Somalia's ITAR country policy — the

Federal Register abstract names it but the secondary sources found at filing time only detail the Ethiopia and MNNA changes.

• Whether any US defense prime has publicly flagged the Ethiopia or

Saudi/Peru changes as commercially material.