What is the primary responsibility of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection regarding export controls?

The primary responsibility of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in relation to export controls centers around ensuring compliance with U.S. laws and regulations concerning both imports and exports, but it does not have a specific program dedicated solely to exports. Instead, CBP's role involves the enforcement of export laws as they interact with other agencies, primarily focusing on ensuring that exports meet the requirements set forth by those agencies.

While CBP plays a part in monitoring and assessing exported goods for compliance with various trade laws, the intricacies of managing export licenses and directly controlling the defense trade fall outside the scope of its primary function. Instead, other agencies, such as the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC), are the entities directly responsible for those aspects.

Understanding this context highlights that the correct response accurately reflects CBP's broader oversight role in trade compliance without specific, dedicated export programs.