WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement after the State Department announced that Australia and the United Kingdom have now implemented export control systems comparable to the United States, an AUKUS implementation requirement championed by Chair Cardin.
“I welcome the State Department’s certification that the arms export control systems of Australia and the United Kingdom are now comparable to that of the United States, and that both countries can now benefit from the extensive exemption from U.S. export controls provided for in U.S. law on AUKUS. In securing enactment of the AUKUS law, as part of the FY 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, I made it a priority to include appropriate safeguards for the transfer of sensitive technologies, which will remain critical for all AUKUS partners as we reach historic levels of defense collaboration. I want to congratulate both Australia and the United Kingdom for completing the hard but necessary work to improve these safeguards, which will serve as an essential foundation for a stronger collaboration under the AUKUS initiative.
“This is but the first important step with our good friends to improve our ability to protect and defend our countries, our partners, and our interests in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.”
As part of AUKUS, the U.S., U.K., and Australia will enhance their cooperative development of military systems, including cyber capabilities, autonomous systems, quantum technologies, hypersonic weapons, and undersea capabilities. This enhanced collaboration, however, will also become a heightened target for espionage by adversaries, including the People’s Republic of China. The U.S. AUKUS law requires both Australia and the United Kingdom to make their export systems comparable to the United States in order to be eligible to receive an export control exemption, thereby safeguarding the benefits of faster and closer cooperation and technology transfers.
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