H.R. 6736 — ARMAS Act of 2025

This section establishes the short title of the Act as the “Americas Regional Monitoring of Arms Sales Act of 2025” or the “ARMAS Act of 2025” and sets forth the table of contents.

This section states congressional findings concerning firearms trafficking from the United States to Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, including that U.S.-origin firearms account for 70% of those recovered and traced from crimes in Mexico (per a 2021 GAO report); firearms are used in 70% of homicides in the Caribbean (vs. 30% globally), where the region accounts for 23% of global homicides despite comprising less than 1% of the world population; such trafficking contributes to violence, human rights abuses, migration, and fentanyl flows; U.S. government efforts lack sufficient data and analysis (per 2021-2022 GAO reports); and firearms exports to Guatemala have increased to approximately 99,270 since 2020 (from an average of 4,000 per year previously, or as much as 25 times higher).

This section requires the Secretary of Commerce to transfer regulatory control over the export of certain previously covered munitions items from the Commerce Control List to the jurisdiction of the Department of State not later than one year after enactment of this Act. The section further (1) prohibits the Secretary of State from transferring such control back to the Department of Commerce; (2) directs both secretaries to issue implementing regulations by the transfer deadline; (3) states that the transfer does not limit other authorities to designate, control, or remove items from the United States Munitions List or Commerce Control List; and (4) prohibits the Secretary of Commerce from promoting exports of such items at any time.

This section directs the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, Attorney General, ATF Director, and other relevant agency heads, to submit to the appropriate congressional committees, not later than 180 days after enactment, a report on U.S. government efforts to disrupt (1) the illegal export or diversion of firearms from the United States to covered countries designated under section 7 and (2) the illegal trafficking of U.S.-origin firearms to such countries. The report must identify efforts toward specified objectives—including tracking and verifying end-users via data-sharing agreements, ensuring destruction of surplus firearms, preventing their use in human rights violations, building host-country capacity, combating cross-border smuggling, engaging subnational officials, tracing origins via serial numbers, implementing the U.S.-Mexico Bicentennial Framework and successors, and inter-agency cooperation—along with an assessment of results and a description of related investigations into homicides and human rights violations. This section further requires the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce and taking into account the report, to develop an inter-agency strategy for disrupting the trafficking of U.S.-exported firearms to such covered countries, including (1) plans to achieve the specified objectives, (2) performance measures, targets, baselines, and timelines, (3) resource and personnel estimates, (4) inter-agency cooperation plans involving the Attorney General, Secretary of Homeland Security, and ATF Director, and (5) coordination plans for regional trafficking; the strategy must consider alignment with broader security assistance and anti-corruption efforts, potential placement of a Commerce export control officer in the Western Hemisphere, and consultations with covered-country counterparts, with submission to Congress not later than January [date truncated in text].

This section directs the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), to work with national and sub-national law enforcement authorities in countries designated as covered countries under section 7 to increase their participation in the eTrace program (i.e., ATF's web-based firearms tracing system available to accredited domestic and international law enforcement agencies to trace U.S.-sourced firearms). It further (1) requires the Secretary to submit to the appropriate congressional committees, not later than two years after enactment, a report on implementation of these efforts and on the number of firearms traced to a purchase or export that resulted in federal investigations and prosecutions; (2) directs the ATF Director to make the eTrace program available in French and Haitian Creole to improve its use by Haitian law enforcement authorities; and (3) authorizes appropriations under chapter 8 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (i.e., international narcotics control assistance) to carry out these provisions.

This section directs the Secretary of State, within 180 days of enactment, to designate as covered countries those located in North America, South America, or the Caribbean that are not North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members and meet other requirements the Secretary deems appropriate. It deems the Bahamas, Belize, Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Haiti, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago as initially designated covered countries as of enactment, with such status continuing for five years during which time the designations may not be terminated. The Secretary may terminate a country's designation only after submitting notification to the appropriate congressional committees at least 180 days prior.

This section establishes certification requirements, administered by the Secretary of State, prohibiting transfers of covered munitions to covered countries designated under section 7—or their organizations, citizens, or residents—until the Secretary certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that a specified program has been established. The program requires (1) prohibiting retransfer of such munitions without U.S. consent; (2) maintaining detailed records of origin, shipping, and distribution; (3) registering serial numbers; and (4) conducting end-use monitoring, including review of the Department's INVEST database (used for Leahy Law vetting under 10 U.S.C. 362 and section 620M of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961) to deny consent for any prospective recipient credibly implicated in gross violations of human rights. (Thus, the program prevents retransfers to units or individuals barred from U.S. security assistance due to human rights concerns.) The section further requires recertification not later than three years after the initial certification and annually thereafter (with transfers prohibited if recertification cannot be made); authorizes a one-year waiver of the initial certification if in the national security interest; and takes effect one year after the Secretary of Commerce transfers export control over previously covered items to the Department of State under section 3(a).

This section prohibits the Secretary of State from granting a license or other authorization for the export of items transferred from the Commerce Control List to the jurisdiction of the Department of State (i.e., previously covered items under Commerce export controls now on the United States Munitions List) unless the Secretary submits an unclassified certification to the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate Foreign Affairs Committees. The certification must identify the applicant, proposed recipient, destination country or international organization, item description, and export value (with value and item quantity possibly restricted from public disclosure if detrimental to U.S. security). The certification is due at least 15 calendar days in advance for exports to NATO members, Australia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Israel, or New Zealand and at least 30 calendar days for all other destinations; the license or authorization becomes effective after the applicable period unless Congress enacts a joint resolution of disapproval.

This section prohibits the Secretary of Commerce from (1) promoting the sale or export of covered munitions; or (2) seeking the reduction or removal by any foreign country of restrictions on the marketing of covered munitions.

This section defines terms for purposes of the Act, including (1) appropriate congressional committees (i.e., House Foreign Affairs Committee; Senate Foreign Relations and Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committees); (2) covered munition (i.e., previously covered items and items subsequently designated for control under Categories I, II, or III of the United States Munitions List); (3) previously covered item (i.e., items in those categories as of March 8, 2020, that are on the Commerce Control List as of enactment); (4) firearm (i.e., includes covered munitions); (5) gross violations of internationally recognized human rights (i.e., as defined in 22 U.S.C. 2304(d)); (6) security assistance (i.e., assistance specified in 22 U.S.C. 2304(d)(2) and other U.S. international security assistance programs, including under 10 U.S.C. ch. 16); and (7) United States Munitions List (i.e., list maintained at 22 C.F.R. pt. 121).