Transatlantic leadership in an era of human rights-based export controls

Abstract In 2021, the USA and the European Union (EU) expressed an interest in deepening their cooperation with each other and other international actors on export controls to address evolving security risks, including the misuse of dual-use technologies to violate human rights. This interest presents an opportunity to probe the potential for US–EU leadership, as a stated intention of these actors, in developing standards that incorporate human rights considerations into export control policy. To undertake this analysis, this article assesses the legal and political context in which the USA and the EU regulate exports and how this context affects potential opportunities for leadership. The article contends that the USA and EU may struggle to exercise joint leadership due to their divergent systems but may be capable of doing so if they invest in creative diplomatic efforts. In particular, the USA possesses greater legal flexibility than the EU to propose new standards and to engage in diplomatic efforts to multilateralize them. In short, the EU’s structural limitations create a dynamic in which the EU will rely heavily on US diplomacy, as well as that of its Member States, to achieve its objective of creating US–EU leadership in this area.