Today, I bumped into a question in Quora.com asking if you need an import-export license if your business is in exporting services industry. The quick answer to this one is you may or you may not, this will depend on the product or service that you are exporting.
The main important factor and that one business who is in the exporting industry should know is they should be aware if which Federal department or agency their product will fall and is the agency has jurisdiction of the product or services that are being exported.
The only key which determines if an export license is really required by the US government specifically in Department of Commerce is that the product should have the ECCN or the so-called Export Control Classification Number which the others call it five-digit classification of a product or service.
You should also take note that the EAR or the Export Administration Regulations will also make an allowance for the commodities of the supplies shortage which makes them subject for export licensing. This is a way to protect the economy of the States from an over excessive drain of products or scarce materials and to minimize inflationary impact due to high foreign demands.
However, if you are in firearms, ammunitions or digital defense articles business industry, you might want to hire an ITAR consultant which can help you get license in exporting the said services and products. In choosing the right ITAR consultant, you have to make sure that they have experience in this field as this is a very crucial element of an export business.
Your company must be an ITAR compliant so that you won’t fine high penalties in the long run. Your consultant must know about this. So before hiring one, you should ask if they can actually make your export business an ITAR compliant. If they can, then you might want to consider bringing them into your business.