US overhauls policy to boost arms exports

INITIATIVE TO CUT TIME IN DEAL APPROVAL, PROMOTE SALES OF POWERFUL WEAPONS

The Trump administration rolled out a long-awaited overhaul of US arms export policy yesterday aimed at expanding sales to allies, saying it will bolster the American defence industry and create jobs at home.

The White House aims to cut the time it takes to approve arms deals, lowering the hurdle to bigger sales and sales of more powerful weapons, and increasing the role of senior US officials in shepherding deals across the finish line.

The initiative builds on President Donald Trump’s efforts to personally boost arms sales on calls with foreign heads of state. Companies that stand to benefit from the new policy most include Boeing Co and the other top US defence contractors, Lockheed Martin Corp, Raytheon Co, General Dynamics Corp and Northrop Grumman Corp.

The plans have been in the works for a year, with White House trade adviser Peter Navarro playing a major role in driving the project forward.

Navarro said in a statement the new policies “will create American manufacturing jobs, strengthen our allies and partners, support a robust defence industrial base at home, and promote American economic and security interests abroad.” Human rights will now carry equal weight alongside other considerations in planned arms sales including the needs of allied nations and the economic loss if the US contractor does not win the sale when decisions are made on whether to approve an arms deal.