Industry Group Plans ‘Detailed’ Comments on AUKUS ITAR Exemption Rule

The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) intends to provide “detailed feedback” to the State Department to help it improve proposed regulations that would exempt Australia and the U.K. from International Traffic in Arms Regulations under the Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) Enhanced Trilateral Security Partnership, the head of the industry group said May 1.

"We appreciate the work the [Biden] administration put into drafting these proposed regulations, and we look forward to working together to address the excluded technologies list and the territorial restrictions,” AIA President and CEO Eric Fanning said in a statement. “We also must also address the challenge of integrating non-AUKUS supply chain companies into AUKUS. AUKUS is enabled by a global supply chain, and we must account for that global supply chain for AUKUS to achieve its maximum potential.”

The State Department released the proposed rule April 30, and public comments are due May 31 (see 2404300050). An AIA official said last month that the group would be scrutinizing the excluded technologies list (ETL) to ensure it was not “expansive” and didn't run counter to congressional intent to promote closer technological collaboration through AUKUS (see 2404190040). Items on the ETL would require an ITAR license regardless of the exemption.

Nicola Johnson, vice president of government affairs and strategic communications at General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., which makes unmanned aerial vehicles, said she’s disappointed the proposed rule treats UAVs like missiles, which are on the ETL. Not exempting a "ubiquitous" item like UAVs from ITAR licensing “only hurts the U.S. and its allies, while helping our competitors, like China,” she said in a statement.

"We look forward to providing our feedback to the U.S. government, highlighting the importance of expanding the scope of the ITAR exemptions to reflect the realities of today and support the AUKUS vision," Johnson added.

Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he, too, is unhappy with the ETL. He said in an emailed statement that the list is too broad and "would undermine the intent behind AUKUS.”