WASHINGTON, Dec. 23 / BNA / The US State Department said, today, Wednesday, that sales of US military equipment to foreign governments fell 21% to $ 138 billion in the last fiscal year, at a time when the Biden administration is moving away from some of the most aggressive weapons. Selling Practices Under Former President Donald Trump.
The US State Department has released military sales figures for fiscal year 2021, which ended on September 30. The sales included $3.5 billion of AH-64E Apache attack helicopters to Australia and $3.4 billion of CH-53K helicopters to Israel, Reuters reported.
Sales of US military equipment in the previous fiscal year were $175 billion.
The administration of President Joe Biden has turned away from selling offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia, due to civilian casualties in Yemen and intends to announce a new arms export policy that focuses on human rights when evaluating the arms sale.
The fall in 2021 follows a one-time spike in sales of combat aircraft and guided missiles in the final year of the Trump administration. Major financial deals for 2020 included Japan’s purchase of 63 F-35 fighter jets from Lockheed Martin, representing $23 billion of that year’s total.
There are two main ways in which foreign governments purchase arms from US companies: direct commercial sales that are negotiated between the government and the company; and Foreign Military Sales in which a foreign government typically contacts a Department of Defense official at the United States Embassy in its capital. Both require US government approval.
The State Department said direct military sales to U.S. companies fell 17% to $103 billion in fiscal 2021 from $124 billion in fiscal 2020, while sales arranged through the U.S. government fell 31% to $34.8 billion in 2021 from $50.8 billion in the previous year.
In 2018, the Trump administration launched a “Buy American Products” program that eased restrictions on military sales while encouraging US officials to take a greater role in increasing business abroad for the US arms industry.
MI