USA Opens Market to Ukrainian Defense-Tech Companies

The US has published a draft amendment to the Department of Justice’s regulations that would remove Ukraine from the list of countries subject to arms import restrictions.

Olga Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s ambassador to the US, wrote about this on a private Telegram channel. Her post is quoted by Interfax-Ukraine.

According to her, the changes will legally unblock the possibility of permanent imports to the US of certain categories of Ukrainian weapons, ammunition, and components.

The new rules are also intended to remove regulatory barriers for Ukrainian defense-tech companies entering the US market.

In addition, the changes will align the US State Department’s policy toward Ukraine with the US Department of Justice’s import procedures for defense products.

These changes pertain to paragraph 447.52(b), which has been in effect since 1997 following the conclusion of a voluntary restraint agreement with Russia.

The current version of the document prohibited the automatic approval of imports of firearms and ammunition from a number of post-Soviet states.

The list included Ukraine, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Following the changes, the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives will review applications to import Ukrainian firearms on a case-by-case basis.

According to Stefanishyna, applications will no longer be automatically rejected based on the country of origin of the products.

The public comment period for the draft rules will last until July 6, 2026.

Afterward, the US Department of Justice must prepare the final version of the document and undergo interagency review before it takes effect.