WASHINGTON -- European satellite companies are keen to forge business alliances with their American counterparts, but the U.S. government's stringent export control laws are standing in the way.
"Our willingness is not to be 'Fortress Europe,'" said Armand Carlier, head of Matra Marconi, a leading European satellite manufacturer. "We are extremely eager to have a transatlantic alliance."
But a "major obstacle" to building that alliance is a Byzantine series of export restrictions laid down by the U.S. Commerce and State Departments, Carlier told a luncheon of the Washington Space Business Round Table. And he added that he expects the "administrative harassment" on the U.S. side to continue.
The restrictions, known as the International Tariff in Arms Regulations, or ITAR, stem from export control laws developed in the mid-1970s during the Cold War. Originally designed to monitor sales of military equipment around the world, the laws have grown to cover space-related products such as satellites and rocket parts.
In many cases, that has made it more difficult for U.S. companies to obtain the necessary licenses from Commerce and State to do business overseas. The biggest complaint from U.S. space firms is the amount of time -- often months, and in some cases years -- to get those licenses.
"There's no question that if on occasion the Europeans pull up the drawbridge, it's our government that is pushing it up from underneath," said Joel Johnson, vice president international for the Aerospace Industries Association in Washington. "Both sides could benefit from an alliance...but our government makes it difficult to use the Europeans as a partner."
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