ITAR vs EAR for Importers of Aerospace, Defense and Industrial Parts: USML, ECCN, EAR99 and Duty

ITAR vs EAR is a question of jurisdiction. The International Traffic in Arms Regulations (22 CFR 120-130), run by the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, cover defense articles on the U.S. Munitions List. The Export Administration Regulations (15 CFR 730-774), run by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, cover almost everything else, from dual-use avionics with an Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) to an ordinary bracket designated EAR99. An item falls under one regime or the other, never both, and the ITAR is always checked first.

Both regimes are written as export controls, so importers of aerospace, defense, motorsport and industrial parts often assume they do not apply on the way in. Part of that is right: the EAR‘s license requirements attach to exports, reexports and transfers, not to bringing an item into the United States. But a USML item cannot be permanently imported without an ATF permit if it is on the import list, a temporary import of a defense article needs a DDTC license or a documented exemption, and the classification an importer accepts at entry decides what it can do with the part afterward: send it back for repair, ship it to a customer abroad or share its drawings with a foreign engineer.

Jurisdiction First: USML (22 CFR 121) or CCL (15 CFR 774)

The order of review is fixed. Under 22 CFR 120.11, an article is on the USML if it is enumerated in one of the 21 categories of 22 CFR 121.1 or caught by a catch-all paragraph that uses the term specially designed. The EAR says the same thing from the other side: Supplement No. 4 to part 774 tells the classifier that if an item is described on the USML, including in a catch-all, it is a defense article subject to the ITAR and there is no need to review the Commerce Control List. Only an item not described on the USML moves on to CCL classification.

For parts, the deciding test is usually specially designed in 22 CFR 120.41. A part is caught if it has properties peculiarly responsible for a controlled performance level, or if it is a part, component, accessory or attachment for use in or with a defense article. It is then released if any 120.41(b) provision applies, among them: it is subject to the EAR by a commodity jurisdiction determination; it is a fastener, washer, spacer, insulator, grommet, bushing, spring, wire or solder regardless of form or fit; or it has the same function, performance and the same or equivalent form and fit as a part used in an item that is in production and not on the USML.

Two consequences matter to buyers. Under 120.11(c), a defense article stays subject to the ITAR after it is integrated into an item not on the USML, so a civil assembly with an ITAR sensor inside still carries the sensor’s controls. And when there is real doubt, the formal answer is a commodity jurisdiction determination from DDTC under 22 CFR 120.4, not the supplier’s statement on an invoice.

Where Aerospace and Industrial Parts Usually Land

USML Category VIII covers aircraft and related articles, Category XI military electronics and Category XIX gas turbine engines. Parts specially designed for those military end items are ITAR unless a release applies. Parts for civil aircraft, motorsport and industrial machinery are normally subject to the EAR, and many are EAR99. The trouble cases are a hydraulic actuator built to a military drawing or a navigation unit with military-grade performance.

ECCN and EAR99 Explained for Importers of Parts

Once an item is subject to the EAR, it either has an ECCN on the Commerce Control List or it is EAR99. Under 15 CFR 734.3(c), items subject to the EAR that are not listed on the CCL are designated EAR99. EAR99 is not an exemption from the EAR; it means the item is subject to the regulations but not controlled by a specific entry, so a license is generally needed only for embargoed destinations, prohibited end uses or listed parties.

An ECCN is a five-character code defined in 15 CFR 738.2. The first digit is the category (0 to 9; for example 7 is navigation and avionics and 9 is aerospace and propulsion). The letter is the product group: A equipment and components, B test and production equipment, C materials, D software, E technology. The last three digits signal the reason for control: 000 to 099 national security, 100 to 199 missile technology, 600 to 699 military items formerly on the USML or on the Wassenaar Munitions List, and 900 to 999 lower-level controls such as anti-terrorism.

The 600 series deserves attention from defense and aerospace buyers. Supplement No. 4 to part 774 says a 600 series or 9×515 ECCN trumps other ECCNs on the CCL, the way the ITAR trumps the EAR, and those entries carry much tighter destination controls than an EAR99 bracket.

Why an Importer Needs the ECCN at All

Under 15 CFR 734.3(a)(1), all items in the United States, including in a foreign-trade zone or moving in transit, are subject to the EAR. Under 15 CFR 730.5 and 730.7 the EAR’s licensing centers on exports and reexports, so the import itself needs no BIS license, but every later movement does depend on the classification: returning a defective unit to a foreign vendor is an export, shipping a repaired part to a customer abroad is an export, and drop-shipping from a U.S. warehouse to a third country is an export. Ask the foreign supplier for the ECCN or EAR99 designation at the purchase order stage, record it in the item master, and check ownership of the counterparties; our article on the BIS Affiliates Rule covers the 50% ownership extension, suspended by BIS until November 10, 2026, and restricted party screening covers the screening side.

Import Side: ATF Permanent Import and DDTC Temporary Import

The ITAR governs exports and temporary imports. Permanent imports of defense articles are a separate program run by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives under 27 CFR part 447, which uses its own, shorter list: the U.S. Munitions Import List in 27 CFR 447.21, covering firearms, ammunition, missiles, tanks and military vehicles, aircraft and associated equipment, among others.

Under 27 CFR 447.41, USMIL articles may not be imported except under an ATF permit, applied for on Form 6 Part I under 447.42. Two narrow exceptions exist: USMIL articles from Canada other than Categories I, II, III, IV, VI(e), VIII(a), XVI and XX, and minor parts for Category I(a) and I(b) firearms (not barrels, cylinders, receivers or complete breech mechanisms) up to $100 wholesale per transaction. Persons engaged in the business of importing USMIL articles must also register with ATF on Form 4587 under 447.31.

Temporary imports are the State Department’s. Under 22 CFR 123.3, a DSP-61 license is needed for the temporary import and later export of unclassified defense articles, unless a 123.4 exemption applies. A DSP-61 cannot be used for a permanent import; 123.3(c) sends the importer to ATF for that. The 123.4(a) exemption lets CBP admit unclassified U.S.-origin defense items for up to four years without a license when they come in for servicing and return, for incorporation into an item already authorized for export, for exhibition or demonstration and return, after rejection by the Department of Justice for permanent import, or under a Foreign Military Sales case. For civil exhibition goods, the separate customs instrument is the ATA carnet, which does not replace any of these approvals.

Origin Matters: China and Other Proscribed Countries

22 CFR 126.1 sets a policy of denial for exports, reexports, retransfers and temporary imports of defense articles destined for or originating in listed countries, which include China. ATF applies a parallel rule to permanent imports: 27 CFR 447.52(a) states a policy to deny licenses and approvals for defense articles originating in countries under a U.S. arms embargo, naming China among them. In practice, a defense article made in China does not have a viable import route; civil and EAR99 parts from China do, at the duty rates shown below.

What a Customs Broker Needs on the Entry for Controlled Items

For an EAR or EAR99 part, the entry looks like any other import. For ITAR and USMIL items the broker needs the authorization in hand before the goods arrive, because release depends on it:

• Permanent import of a USMIL article: the ATF permit, plus Form 6A filed by the permit holder for release under 27 CFR 447.45; for Category I and III articles imported by a registered importer, a copy of the exporting country’s export license or a certification under penalty of perjury that none is required.
• Temporary import under a 123.4 exemption: the CBP document (for example CF 3461, 7512, 7501, 7523 or 3311) annotated “This shipment is being imported in accordance with and under the authority of 22 CFR 123.4(a)” with the subsection identified, and an invoice listing each defense article with quantity and U.S. dollar value, as 123.4(d)(1) requires.
• EAR parts: the ECCN or EAR99 designation on file with the item master, and, if the vendor states the part is ITAR, the basis for that statement.

When the Authorization Is Missing

A missing permit or a wrong exemption citation leaves the goods in CBP custody, and an ITAR violation carries a civil penalty under 22 CFR 127.10 of up to the greater of $1,271,078 or twice the value of the transaction for each violation of 22 U.S.C. 2778. Getting the file right is part of trade compliance management, not a broker courtesy.

Aerospace and Defense Parts: Civil Aircraft Duty Treatment vs ITAR Items

Export jurisdiction and duty treatment are separate questions, and the same part number can land differently in each. On the duty side, 19 CFR 10.183 implements General Note 6 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule for civil aircraft. Parts qualify when they are used as original or replacement equipment in aircraft and are made or operated under an FAA certificate (or a foreign airworthiness approval the FAA recognizes), or are covered by an accepted application. The importer claims the treatment by entering under a provision with “Free (C)” in the Special column and placing indicator C on the entry summary, and is deemed to certify civil aircraft use. Parts bought for the Department of Defense or the Coast Guard qualify only under the narrower conditions of 10.183(b).

Documentation is the weak point in audits: 10.183(e) requires the written order or contract and evidence of use and airworthiness certification. A claim missed at entry can still be made before liquidation becomes final under 10.183(f), without interest on the refund.

General Note 6 also matters for the new layers of duty. Under chapter 99 U.S. note 52(d), the Section 301 forced labor duties do not apply to civil aircraft and their parts that meet General Note 6 and fall in the listed provisions, whether or not the entry uses Free (C). The China Section 301 list duties still apply. The table shows typical lines for this vertical; run your own in the China to US tariff calculator or the EU to US tariff calculator.

Reading the Table

Totals are MFN plus additional duties and exclude antidumping and countervailing duties and product exclusions. China rows combine the Section 301 list duty with the 12.5% forced labor duty in effect since July 24, 2026; details are in our guide to Section 301 forced labor tariffs. EU goods with an MFN rate below 25% if 15%+ steel by weight, otherwise 10% pay a flat 25% if 15%+ steel by weight, otherwise 10% under heading 9903.05.39, and civil aircraft parts meeting General Note 6 drop out of that duty and return to MFN. The exception is lines on the Section 232 derivative steel list (8412.21.00 and 8708.99.81 here): when steel is 15% or more of the weight they pay 25% under heading 9903.82.09 from any origin, including civil aircraft parts from the EU or China.

Duty-free civil aircraft treatment says nothing about export jurisdiction. A part can enter Free (C) and still be subject to the EAR under a 600 series ECCN, or be an ITAR part bought for a civil program. Classify for both, and keep the two answers in the same file. For importers moving aerospace and machinery components at volume, as a licensed customs broker with a national permit, we file the entry and check that the ATF permit or DDTC authorization is on file before the goods arrive.

Frequently Asked Questions