Trump signs executive order to ease US weapons exports

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on April 9 for a review of rules governing exports of military equipment, as he seeks to make it easier for US defence firms to sell their products abroad.

“We’re unable to provide weapons systems in a reliable, effective way to key allies of ours, and the key driver of that is inefficiencies and inconsistencies with the process by which we approve foreign military sales,” White House aide Will Scharf said at the signing ceremony in the Oval Office.  

“So this executive order is going to direct your Department of Defence, Department of State, other relevant departments and agencies, to rework our system of foreign defence sales to ensure that we can provide equipment creating American jobs and providing obviously revenue to American defence manufacturers, but provide key military equipment to our key allies in a reliable, effective way,” he added.  

Reuters reported on April 1 that Mr Trump was planning an order that would ease rules governing exports of military equipment, similar to legislation proposed by National Security Adviser Michael Waltz in 2024, when he was a Republican member of the House of Representatives.

The order could increase sales for big US defence contractors such as Lockheed Martin, RTX and Boeing.

Currently, the US Arms Export Control Act gives Congress the right to review arms exports to other countries, depending on how close an ally a country is and the size of the planned sale.

During his first term, Mr Trump often expressed frustration with members of Congress delaying foreign arms sales over human rights or other concerns.

In 2019, he infuriated many lawmakers, including some fellow Republicans, by declaring a national emergency because of tensions with Iran.

That allowed him to sweep aside a longstanding precedent for congressional review of major weapons sales and complete the sale of more than US$8 billion (S$10.7 billion) worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Jordan.

At the time, members of Congress had been blocking sales of military equipment to Saudi Arabia and the UAE for months, angry about the civilian toll from their air campaign in Yemen, as well as human rights abuses such as the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at a Saudi consulate in Turkey.

Mr Trump also signed an order on April 9 launching a general review of procurement programmes at the Department of Defence.

Mr Scharf said: “With this executive order, we’re going to be modernising the procurement structure the Department of Defence uses to allow it to more quickly adapt to changing circumstances around the world.

“And we’re also going to be launching a review of existing procurement programmes to ensure that we’re getting value for the money, to ensure that we’re getting the best possible systems in the field.” REUTERS