State Dept. Regulatory Agenda Mentions Rules to Revise USML, ITAR

The agency continued to mention a proposed rule, due in December, that would update certain controls around “circuit boards and semiconductors.” The rule, which the State Department had originally hoped to issue in September, would propose changes to “paragraphs (c)(1) through (4) of Category XI” of the USML, which covers military electronics, ​​to “describe more precisely the articles warranting control on the USML.”

Another proposed rule, due in October, would amend the ITAR’s definition of regular employee to allow certain people working with ITAR-controlled items to work remotely. The agency had originally hoped to issue the rule in July. The change has proven popular among industry ever since the State Department began temporarily allowing certain workers to more easily work remotely due to travel issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic (see 2105260008).

Also mentioned was a final rule, due in September, that would create new definitions for activities that are not exports, re-exports, or retransfers. The agency also continues to evaluate an interim final rule that will exclude entries from the USML that no longer warrant inclusion and add entries for critical and emerging technologies that warrant inclusion. That rule is expected in August, but the agency had hoped to issue it in February.

The agenda also mentions a new proposed rule that would amend the State Department’s Acquisition Regulation to include a new contract clause to better bar foreign assistance discrimination. The clause would state that contractors and subcontractors receiving State Department-funded foreign assistance funds “must not discriminate on specified bases against end-users of supplies or services” or “in certain employment decisions.” The rule is expected in November.

Highlights of the State Department's trade-related rulemakings that are at the proposed, final or completed stages are below. New items are marked with an asterisk (*).