On December 9, 2021, the US government announced an arms embargo on Cambodia, driven by a litany of issues, including concerns about the country’s military cooperation with China and human rights abuses.  The arms embargo is implemented through the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), under amendments made by the Department of State’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) and the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), respectively.

The State Department final rule adds Cambodia to Section 126.1 of the ITAR, which imposes a unilateral US arms embargo. The BIS final rule similarly adds Cambodia to EAR Country Group D:5 (US arms-embargoed countries).  The BIS rule also imposes a more restrictive review policy for license applications for dual-use items controlled for national security reasons and subjects Cambodia to the EAR’s broad military and military-intelligence end-use and end-user restrictions.…

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