Michigan Company Fined for Illegal Exports to China, Others

WASHINGTON - The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) today announced that ArvinMeritor of Troy, Michigan, has agreed to pay a $100,000 civil fine to settle allegations that it committed 14 violations of the Export Administration Regulations.

On two occasions between August 2005 and November 2006, ArvinMeritor shipped products, including various vehicle axles and seal assemblies controlled for national security reasons, to China and France.  Additionally, on twelve occasions between December 2005 and May 2006, ArvinMeritor engaged in prohibited conduct by exporting technical data, controlled for national security reasons, to Italy, India, China, Mexico, South Korea, and Brazil.

“ArvinMeritor voluntarily disclosed the violations and cooperated fully in the investigation,” said Douglas Hassebrock, Director, Office of Export Enforcement. 

“I applaud ArvinMeritor for coming forward to report these violations,” said Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement David W. Mills. 

BACKGROUND

BIS controls exports and reexports of dual-use commodities, technology, and software for reasons of national security, missile technology, nuclear non-proliferation, chemical and biological weapons non-proliferation, crime control, regional stability, foreign policy and anti-terrorism.  Criminal penalties and administrative sanctions can be imposed for violations of the EAR.  For more information, please visit www.bis.doc.gov.

Parties who may have been involved in violations of the EAR are encouraged to submit a Voluntary Self Disclosure (VSD) to the BIS Office of Export Enforcement.  VSDs are an important indicator of parties’ intent to comply with the EAR, and may provide BIS important information on illicit proliferation networks.  A VSD is considered a “great weight” mitigating factor in the settlement of BIS administrative cases.

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