“To amend the Arms Export Control Act to modify certain provisions relating to AUKUS defense trade cooperation, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section modifies licensing exemptions under the Arms Export Control Act for defense articles exported to Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand by striking subclauses (I), (II), and (III) from the list of excepted categories in subsection (j)(1)(C)(ii)—which identify items ineligible for license-free export—and redesignating the remaining subclauses (IV) through (VII) as (I) through (IV). (Thus, three categories of defense articles previously ineligible for exemption now qualify for license-free export to those four countries.) The section further updates a cross-reference in the AUKUS defense trade cooperation provision (subsection (l)(4)(B)) to the redesignated subclauses (I) through (IV) and excludes items related to the Missile Technology Control Regime from certain AUKUS licensing requirements (subsection (l)(4)(C)(ii)). (As background, AUKUS is a trilateral security partnership among Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States that streamlines defense trade controls to facilitate cooperation on advanced military capabilities.)
This section terminates the U.S. policy of applying a presumption of denial (i.e., generally denying export licenses absent exceptional circumstances) to Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) Category 1 or 2 items exported to NATO allies, major non-NATO allies, or other Five Eyes intelligence alliance countries (i.e., Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom).