Because Section 38 of the Arms Exports Control Acts (AECA) authorizes the President of the United States to control the export and import of defense articles and defense services and to establish regulations for that purpose.

The President delegated export control authority to the Office of Defense Trade Controls in the State Departments Bureau of Political-Military Affairs through the Secretary of State.

The civil penalties are a fine up to $500,00 per violation and up to five years in jail. The criminal penalties are a fine up to $1 million per violation and up to ten years in jail. In addition, the violator can be debarred for a period of time from obtaining export licenses and possible debarment from receiving any U.S. Government contracts.

It does when you consider that a single case may involve more than 100 alleged violations.

By administering the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). These regulations are found in Section 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.), Parts 120-130.

Defense articles are identified in Part 121.1 of the ITAR, known as the U.S. Munitions List (USML). Incidentally, the term defense article includes technical data recorded or stored in any physical form (such as on a computer disc or hard drive).