The core of the export control provisions of the EAR concerns exports from the United States. You will find, however, that some provisions give broad meaning to the term “export”, apply to transactions outside of the United States, or apply to activities other than exports.

(a) Reexports. Commodities, software, and technology that have been exported from the United States are generally subject to the EAR with respect to reexport. Many such reexports, however, may go to many destinations without a license or will qualify for an exception from licensing requirements.

(b) Foreign products. In some cases, exports from abroad, reexports or transfers (in-country) of items produced outside of the United States are subject to the EAR when they contain more than the de minimis amount of controlled U.S.-origin content as specified in §734.4 of the EAR or when they are the direct product of specified “technology,” “software,” or a “plant or major component of a plant” as specified in §736.2(b)(3) of the EAR.

(c) Scope of “exports”. Certain actions that you might not regard as an “export” in other contexts do constitute an export subject to the EAR. The release of technology to a foreign national in the United States through such means as demonstration or oral briefing is deemed an export. Other examples of exports under the EAR include the return of foreign equipment to its country of origin after repair in the United States, shipments from a U.S. foreign trade zone, and the electronic transmission of non-public data that will be received abroad.

(d) “U.S. person” activities. The EAR restrict specific activities of “U.S. persons,” wherever located, related to the proliferation of nuclear explosive devices, “missiles,” chemical or biological weapons, whole plants for chemical weapons precursors, and certain military-intelligence end uses and end users, as described in §744.6 of the EAR.

[61 FR 12734, Mar. 25, 1996, as amended at 61 FR 68577, Dec. 30, 1996; 74 FR 52882, Oct. 15, 2009; 85 FR 29852, May 19, 2020; 86 FR 4869, Jan. 15, 2021]