Industrial Policy & Trade Monitor· 2672 actions· ✨ 89 recent

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), within the U.S. Department of Commerce, published a final rule in the Federal Register on September 30, 2025 (FR Doc 2025-18992) rescinding the April 30, 2024 Firearms Export License Requirements interim final rule in its entirety, with the sole exception of preserving the new Export Control Classification Numbers (ECCNs) it had introduced for firearms and ammunition. The rule also amends the EAR to remove the Congressional notification requirement for certain semi-automatic firearms license applications. It is effective on publication.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), within the U.S. Department of Commerce, published an interim final rule (FR Doc 2024-08813) on April 30, 2024 amending the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to restructure export controls on firearms, ammunition, parts, accessories, and related technology and software (EAR Categories 0 and 1). The rule created new Export Control Classification Numbers (ECCNs) for semi-automatic firearms, added Crime Control / Detection (CC) license requirements, narrowed license-exception eligibility, introduced a presumption of denial for many non-government end-users, and imposed a default 1-year license validity for semi-automatic firearms. Effective May 30, 2024; later rescinded (except for the new ECCNs) by FR Doc 2025-18992 on September 30, 2025.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) added 71 entities to the Entity List effective May 19, 2023, as part of the continuing US export-control response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Of the 71 additions, 69 are Russian entities (aircraft repair plants, ammunition and gunpowder manufacturers, shipyards, tractor and automobile factories, and engineering centres), one is Armenian, and one is Kyrgyz — the latter two for facilitating diversion of controlled goods to Russia. The majority of Russian entities received "footnote 3" designations as Russian or Belarusian military end users, triggering the Russia/Belarus Military End-User FDP Rule and subjecting them to a license review policy of denial.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published a final rule on August 19, 2021 (FR Doc 2021-17647, RIN 0694-AF47) making technical corrections and clarifications to the January 23, 2020 rule that transferred firearms, guns, and ammunition from USML Categories I, II, and III under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) to the Commerce Control List (CCL). Corrections address cross-reference errors, clarify Firearms Convention Import Certificate validity periods relative to BIS license periods, simplify commodity description requirements in electronic export filings, and add technical notes on controlled items (e.g. BMG cartridges, barrel blanks). ECCN 0A018 is removed as unused; ECCN 0A501.y.2–.y.5 entries are reserved. The rule is effective September 20, 2021.

On June 1, 2021, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published FR Doc 2021-11585 (86 FR 29189) notifying the public that, effective May 26, 2021, BIS had assumed jurisdiction over certain firearms-related "technology" and "software" — specifically digital files (CAD/AMF/G-code) for 3D-printed firearms and CNC milling instruction files — under ECCNs 0D501 and 0E501 of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). The transfer was triggered by the Ninth Circuit's April 27, 2021 vacatur of a March 6, 2020 district-court preliminary injunction that had blocked the technology/software prong of the broader January 23, 2020 USML-to-CCL transfer rule. Internet posting of such files now requires a BIS license (review policy: denial), completing the full implementation of the January 2020 rule transferring USML Categories I–III (firearms, guns, and ammunition) from ITAR/State Department to EAR/Commerce jurisdiction.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amended the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to revise the licensing review policy for items controlled for Crime Control (CC) reasons, explicitly embedding human rights considerations into the review calculus. License applications for CC-controlled items — including stun guns, less-lethal ammunition, restraints, and biometric equipment such as fingerprint analyzers, polygraphs, and voice-stress devices — will be assessed case-by-case, with presumption of denial when the destination country or region exhibits civil disorder or when there is a risk items will be used to violate or abuse human rights (through censorship, surveillance, detention, or excessive force). The rule also extended human rights review as a factor to nearly all other EAR license applications, not only CC-flagged items.