Sponsors (28)
The bill increases oversight, tracing, and export controls to reduce diversion and human‑rights abuses from U.S. arms transfers, at the cost of higher compliance and taxpayer expenses, potential economic harm to exporters, slower approvals/diplomatic frictions, and some privacy/intelligence risks.
Law enforcement in the U.S. and partner countries will be better able to trace, interdict, and prevent diversion of U.S.-sourced firearms and munitions, improving investigations and reducing weapons reaching violent groups abroad.
Congress, federal agencies, and the public will gain more oversight and transparency over U.S. munitions exports through reporting, public certification details, end‑use checks, and advance notice requirements.
Export licensing for the specified defense items is consolidated at the State Department (rather than Commerce), aligning control with the agency focused on arms transfers and creating regulatory predictability for those items.
U.S. defense firms, government contractors, and small exporters may face reduced sales, lost promotion opportunities, blocked transactions, and market disruption because of limits on Commerce promotion, new licensing rules, and stricter retransfers.
Federal agencies and taxpayers will likely incur material new costs from additional reporting, end‑use checks, export monitoring, database implementation, translational and operational changes (e.g., eTrace), and expanded enforcement or foreign assistance.
Stricter end‑use verification, slower approvals, and added review/notification periods could delay allied or partner access to time‑sensitive defense items and complicate security cooperation or readiness.
Based on analysis of 20 sections of legislative text.
Moves many munitions and certain firearm export licensing from Commerce to State, bans Commerce promotion, and imposes new tracing, monitoring, certification, and reporting rules for transfers to countries in the Americas/Caribbean.
Introduced December 16, 2025 by Joaquin Castro · Last progress December 16, 2025
Transfers control of many munitions and certain firearms export licensing from the Department of Commerce to the Department of State, forbids Commerce from promoting sales of those items, and creates new reporting, tracing, end‑use monitoring, and certification rules for transfers to countries in North/South America and the Caribbean. It requires detailed interagency reports and trace-capacity expansions (including making ATF's eTrace available in French and Haitian Creole), sets an automatic five‑year list of designated countries in the region, and imposes waiting periods and congressional notification before some exports can proceed.