Export Controls

Posternak’s Export Controls Group specializes in counseling domestic and foreign clients regarding the broad range of United States export control laws. We are capable of handling all export compliance matters, including State Department controls on defense-related articles, services and technical data, Commerce Department controls on exports of commercial and dual-use technologies, goods and services, and trade embargos and other controls. We assist our clients with jurisdictional determinations, licensing, internal compliance procedures, observing restrictions on the overseas activities of U.S. companies and their foreign subsidiaries, and defending export enforcement investigations. Our focus is always on providing practical and timely solutions to the complex problems and procedures involved in export compliance.

Specific areas of experience include:

• Compliance with the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the Trading with the Enemy Act, and the Arms Export Control Act, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).
• Compliance audits and gap analysis.
• Commodity classifications, jurisdiction determinations and licensing under the ITAR and the EAR.
• Compliance with the deemed export rule, including special problems involved with employing or contracting with foreign nationals, attending trade shows, and plant visits by non-U.S. nationals and business visitors.
• Embargoes and other special controls administered by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
• Distribution Agreements, Manufacturing License Agreements and Technical Assistance Agreements under the ITAR.
• Contractual and transactional provisions, including compliance warranties, Shipper's Export Declarations, and end-user certificates.
• Encryption controls.
• Extra-territorial application of U.S. export control laws, including foreign subsidiaries and re-exports.
• Export control compliance programs.
• Internal review and resolution of export control, anti-boycott and economic sanctions investigations by government authorities.

The following is a representative sampling of our experience:

• Conducted numerous compliance audits in various industries, including with respect to night vision equipment, unmanned aerial and under water vehicles, robots, sensors, lasers, communications equipment, and satellites.
• Developed and implemented numerous Export Management Systems for small, medium and large enterprises.
• Represented foreign buyers and domestic sellers before the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS).
• Assisted a variety of New Space commercial enterprises in navigating the ITAR, including obtaining export licenses and favorable commodity jurisdiction determinations.
• Assisted buyers and sellers in merger and acquisition transactions conduct due diligence investigations related to U.S. export controls compliance, and negotiated appropriate representation and warranty and indemnity provisions.
• Assisted numerous clients in making voluntary disclosures to the Departments of State, Commerce and Treasury, and negotiated favorable outcomes.
• Obtained favorable export licensing jurisdiction determinations for a major U.S. battery manufacturer and provided advise regarding worldwide sales launch.
• Negotiated manufacturing license agreements and technology transfer agreements on behalf of a variety of manufacturers of U.S. Munitions List items.
• Obtained numerous DSP-5 licenses on behalf of a U.S. software development company for exports to India.
• Advised telecommunications clients regarding encryption controls.
• Assisted U.S. computer hardware manufacturers in obtaining necessary export licenses and otherwise complying with U.S. export control law.
• Advised a U.S. inventor of electro-optical and optical integrated circuits and semiconductor lasers and arrays in establishing a product development and manufacturing joint venture with an Indonesian company.
• Advised the Italian subsidiary of a U.S. client in the extra-territorial application of U.S. export control law.
• Advised a U.S. nuclear company regarding the export control implications of establishing a subsidiary dedicated to the development and manufacture of electromagnetic absorbers subject to ITAR controls and DOD patent secrecy orders.
• Advised a U.S. biotechnology company regarding the export of over 100,000 compounds, including compliance with U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations.
• Represented a U.S. manufacturer of diagnostic and health-related products in connection with investigations by the Commerce Department and Treasury Department into sales to Iran.

Export Controls: Related Services Areas

• Business Counseling
• International Trade
• Immigration Law

Export Controls: Professionals

Export Controls: Publications