Government Controls

National Security

 In addition to promoting human rights and regional stability, the U.S. is committed to fighting terrorism and preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. This foreign policy began during World War II and continues today. The objective is broadly applied to control virtually all U.S. exports to prevent "diversion." The U.S. accomplishes this by regulating imports into the U.S. and exports from the U.S.

Listed below are examples of national security policies that influence the regulatory environment.

• Regional conflict (e.g., India – Pakistan, China – Taiwan, Israel – Arab countries).
• Nuclear, missile, chemical/biological (e.g., Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and parts, components, and precursors for developing and producing WMD).
• The U.S. regulations favor "friends and allies" (e.g., North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Australia, Japan, Sweden, certain other major Non-NATO Allies).

One of the many regulatory requirements related to the U.S. Policy that a business and individual must understand is that providing information to Foreign Nationals in the U.S. or abroad is no less an export than sending goods overseas. This means giving a Foreign Person materials, information, or training while they are in the U.S. is the same as if you were providing those things to someone overseas. The Import and Export regulations control what happens inside the U.S. as tightly as what happens outside the U.S.