U.S. Department of State Concludes $36 Million Settlement Resolving Export Violations by General Electric Company

The U.S. Department of State has concluded an administrative settlement with General Electric Company (GE Aerospace) to resolve 116 violations of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA), 22 U.S.C. § 2751 et seq., and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), 22 C.F.R. parts 120-130. The Department of State and GE Aerospace reached this settlement following an extensive compliance review by the Office of Defense Trade Controls Compliance in the Department's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs.

The administrative settlement between the Department of State and GE Aerospace, concluded pursuant to ITAR § 128.11, addresses multiple categories of ITAR violations, including GE Aerospace's unauthorized exports of technical data to the People's Republic of China; violations of terms, conditions, and provisos of several Directorate of Defense Trade Controls authorizations involving various countries; unauthorized exports of defense articles to two countries; and failure to report material changes to its ITAR registration.

GE Aerospace voluntarily disclosed all the alleged violations, a substantial portion of which predate 2023. GE Aerospace also fully cooperated with the Department's review of this matter and has implemented numerous improvements to its ITAR compliance program since the conduct at issue.

Under the terms of the 36-month Consent Agreement, GE Aerospace will pay a civil penalty of $36 million. The Department has agreed to suspend $18 million of this amount on the condition that the funds will be used for the Department-approved Consent Agreement's remedial compliance measures to strengthen GE Aerospace's compliance program. In addition, for an initial period of at least 24 months, GE Aerospace will engage an external Special Compliance Officer to oversee the Consent Agreement, which will also require at least one external audit of its ITAR compliance program and implementation of additional compliance measures.

This settlement demonstrates the Department's role in furthering the national security and foreign policy of the United States by controlling the export of defense articles. The settlement also highlights the importance of exporting defense articles pursuant only to appropriate authorization from the Department.

The Consent Agreement and related documents will be available for public inspection in the Public Reading Room of the Department of State and on the Penalties and Oversights Agreements section of the DDTC's website.

For additional information, please contact the Office of the Under Secretary for Arms Control and Internal Security at [email protected].

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