Department of State concludes $36M settlement with GE Aerospace

The U.S. Department of State has concluded an administrative settlement with GE Aerospace (GE) to resolve 116 violations of the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, the Department announced. “The administrative settlement between the Department of State and GE Aerospace, concluded pursuant to ITAR Section 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 $36M. The Department has agreed to suspend $18M 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,” the Department stated.