Export controls
Government rules that require a licence for, or prohibit, sending certain goods, software and technology abroad.
How it works
Export controls give a state the power to decide who may receive the products it considers strategic, and where they may go. In the United States, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) at the Commerce Department exercises this power over commercial and dual-use items through the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).
BIS defines a dual-use item as one with civil applications as well as military, terrorism or weapons of mass destruction-related uses. The EAR are not limited to such items, however; they cover any item warranting control that no other agency controls exclusively.
Two tools do most of the work. The Commerce Control List (CCL) identifies items by Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) and shows which destinations need a licence. The Entity List requires a licence for sales to named companies and organisations, whatever the item.
The reach does not stop at the US border. Reexport rules can cover goods containing US technology as they move between third countries, so every link in the supply chain has to check its own compliance.
Why it matters here
Semiconductors and AI chips have become a strategic chokepoint much like oil, and export controls are the tool that turns that chokepoint into a weapon. Each new rule aimed at China redraws supply chains and can provoke retaliation through curbs on critical minerals. For Türkiye the question is compliance: a firm that passes a product with US components on to Russia or Iran risks landing on the Entity List itself.