US Market Entry · Allied Advanced-Technology, Aerospace & Semiconductor Manufacturers
US market entry for allied defense manufacturers, with an operator on the ground.
US defense revenue you cannot capture from abroad, and a prototype that must become a secure US production line to win it. I build and run that operation, floor to data border, in the New England corridor where the primes sit.
The landing zone
New England is where allied defense suppliers put their US operations.
A qualifying-country manufacturer wins US defense work with a real US operation, not by shipping across a border: a US entity, a US-person data boundary, and a CMMC and ITAR-ready floor from day one.
I am standing up US defense operations for a Canadian-parent subsidiary now and ran an Italian sensor multinational's North America operations before that. Market entry gets the same Standard Work 2.0 install as a domestic shop, pointed at the landing.
A Brescia or Ontario parent is buying my Brookline base, the prime relationships, and the regional supplier fluency: an operator already standing where you land.
Know your work class
Three classes of defense work, three different builds.
Know your class of work before anyone quotes a timeline. Most sub-tier DoD manufacturing sits in the middle class, which a foreign-owned US entity can stand up without a facility clearance.
Commercial and uncontrolled
Dual-use and commercial parts with no controlled technical data.
What it takes
A US entity and a clean quality system. No CMMC boundary or ITAR registration required.
Who owns it
Most parents reach this class on their own.
CUI and ITAR-controlled, unclassified
The bulk of sub-tier DoD manufacturing: controlled technical data, nothing classified.
What it takes
DDTC registration, a US-person data boundary, and CMMC Level 2 in the workflow. Achievable for a foreign-owned US entity.
Who owns it
This is the class I build and run.
Classified
Work that touches classified information.
What it takes
A facility clearance and FOCI mitigation negotiated with DCSA.
Who owns it
DCSA territory. I coordinate with your cleared-facility counsel; the clearance stays with them.
The data border
I build the US-person data boundary so your US operation holds controlled technical data compliantly. Transfers to the parent happen under DDTC authorization or not at all.
The 90-day operating build
A compliant US floor, standing and running in one quarter.
Operating model, IT and OT, and compliance posture come up in parallel, because a prime gate does not wait.
Days 1 to 30
Diagnostic and design
Stand up the US operating model, on paper and on the floor: org, value stream, SQDIP cadence, and the data boundary ITAR needs.
Days 30 to 60
Stabilize and build
Bring IT and OT to a CMMC and ITAR-ready posture. Scope the CUI enclave tight so the assessment stays small.
Days 60 to 90
Qualify and run
Sequence the readiness evidence against your prime's requirement, coordinate FOCI and DDTC with your counsel, and leave the floor a system that holds.
Allied manufacturers
Every country I serve is a DFARS qualifying country.
NATO members, major non-NATO allies, and defense-trade partners, each under a reciprocal defense-procurement agreement with the Department of Defense.
Qualifying-country status is a procurement preference, not a shortcut. It waives neither ITAR nor CMMC and clears no FOCI. Building for those regimes is the work.
Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and France are the primary markets, each with a full country page. Japan and Spain have a market-entry brief. Australia and Switzerland get one on request.
Common questions
What an allied manufacturer asks before the first conversation.
Does qualifying-country status let an allied manufacturer skip CMMC or ITAR?
No. Qualifying-country status under DFARS 225.003 is a procurement preference: it exempts eligible defense articles from Buy American and Balance of Payments restrictions, and it waives neither CMMC nor ITAR. You still need a US-person data boundary, a CMMC and ITAR-ready posture, and safeguarding under DFARS 252.204-7012 to hold covered work. I build and run that floor; export-control counsel owns the ITAR determinations.
Do I need a US entity and a US operation, or can I export from home?
For most controlled sub-tier defense work, you stand up a US operation. Controlled technical data does not cross a border cleanly, domestic-source preferences reward a US floor, and the primes want a supplier inside their supply chain. I build and run that operation, floor to data boundary. Entity formation and site selection stay with your counsel and a site-selection advisor, and I coordinate with them.
Why New England as the landing zone?
New England is where the primes, the qualified suppliers, and the defense talent already sit, and where I operate from Brookline, New Hampshire. Proximity and regional supplier fluency are the difference between a US address and a US operation that wins work.
How fast can a compliant US operation be running?
A 90-day arc: month one stands up the operating model and the data boundary, month two builds the floor and the CMMC and ITAR-ready posture, month three proves it with real work and readiness evidence. The exact clock depends on your class of work, the first thing the strategic conversation settles.
What I own
The operations partner, not the law firm.
I stand up and run the compliant US operation: the floor, the operating model, the IT and OT build, the US-person data boundary, and the readiness evidence for the gate your prime set. Entity formation, FOCI mitigation, and site selection stay with your counsel and a site-selection advisor. I coordinate with them and own the operating outcome.