ITAR

TRX
August 2, 2013
152:
@106:
In this context, the said "US Arms Control Laws" have resulted in USian firms re-engineering their products to use non-USian components and hence fall outwith the restrictions of said laws.
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That's ITAR, originally designed to handle things like the sale of warships, aircraft, cannon, etc. Now it's being applied to "anything an army might use", from candy bars to condoms. There's a "registration fee" of $2,250 per year. The fine for an ITAR violation is a quarter of a million dollars. ITAR is self-regulating and self-enforcing, so there's no appeal should you come into their sights.

The Fed has used the Commerce Act for decades as its universal legal/economic hammer; ITAR is being used as a hidden tax on being in any kind of manufacturing business. Rather than ITAR's fees and paperwork, many small businesses are just sending .dxf files to Chinese shops and selling off their own equipment.