basic-guide-to-exporting_Latest_eg_main_086196

Chapter 2Developing anExport StrategyIn this chapter . . .• Do you need a license?• Is your company ready to export?• How will exporting affect your company?• How do you create an export plan?Do I Need a License?This is one of the most frequently asked questions we receive at the U.S. network of U.S.Commercial Service offices. The answer is usually “no” because 95 percent of all goods exportedfrom the United States to a foreign buyer don’t require an export license, even though the goodsare regulated by U.S. government export control laws. These laws determine whether you can sellyour product to an international buyer, which countries you can export it to, and which buyersyou can sell it to. However, just because your product is among the 95 percent that don’t require alicense doesn’t mean that you can sell it anywhere and to anyone.Export Administration Regulations and the Bureau of Industry and SecurityItems with both commercial and military or nuclear proliferation applications are known as “dualuseproducts,” and they’re licensed by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry andSecurity (BIS, www.bis.doc.gov). The regulations governing these types of products are found inthe Export Administration Regulations (EAR), also available on the BIS website.Relatively few items require a dual-use export license, but such licenses are required in certainsituations involving national security, foreign policy, short supply, nuclear nonproliferation,missile technology, chemical and biological weapons, regional stability, crime control, orterrorism. An item’s technical characteristics, its destination, its end-use and end-user, and otheractivities of the end-user determine whether a license is required. Before shipping your product,make sure you understand both the concept of dual use and basic export-control regulations.Dual-use items are sometimes not easy to classify. Rifle scopes, for example, are a controlled itemand may require an export license.U.S. Commercial Service • A Basic Guide to Exporting11