Importing is a separate permission from the license to deal, and the regulation gets there by stacking statutory prohibitions. Section 922(l) of the Act makes it unlawful for any person knowingly to import or bring into the United States or any possession any firearm or ammunition except as section 925(d) provides — and 925(d) sets standards for importing firearms, ammunition, and firearm barrels. The regulation draws the conclusion plainly: no firearm, firearm barrel, or ammunition may be imported or brought into the United States except as provided by this part. A dealer license authorizes dealing; it does not authorize importing.

For a licensed importer the requirement is stated directly. No firearm, firearm barrel, or ammunition shall be imported or brought in by a licensed importer unless THE DIRECTOR HAS AUTHORIZED that importation. The authorization is per-importation rather than a standing status attached to the license — which is why § 10.2’s application exists as a routine part of importing rather than a one-off qualification.

What happens when goods arrive without that authorization is the part worth knowing before it happens, because none of the three available outcomes is simply being allowed to keep them. A person who has imported without the required authorization must either store the firearms, barrels or ammunition AT THEIR OWN EXPENSE at a facility designated by U.S. Customs or the Director of Industry Operations, to await the issuance of the required authorization or other disposition; or abandon them to the U.S. Government; or export them. Storage is a holding pattern with a meter running, and the other two are losses.