The White House takes “key first steps in a series of government-wide initiatives to strengthen our allies, support the manufacturing and defense industrial base and drive American job creation and innovation.”
President Donald Trump on Thursday issued a memorandum outlining a new conventional arms export policy, which includes providing to firms “appropriate advocacy and trade promotion activities,” simplifying the U.S. regulatory environment, improving financing options and boosting contract flexibility.
The memorandum directs the State Department, in coordination with the Defense, Commerce and Energy departments, to submit to the White House by June 18 proposals to update U.S. policies for conventional arms transfers and for drone exports.
The drone export policy should be aligned “more closely with our national and economic security interests” and address both the current status of and recommended next steps for adoption of revised controls by the multilateral Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) for Category I Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), “consistent with the UAS export policy,” the memorandum says.
MTCR comprises representation from 35 countries, including the United States, and aims to prevent the proliferation of missile and drone technology capable of carrying payloads above 500 kilograms for more than 300 kilometers.
The new UAS export policy will replace an “overly restrictive policy established in 2015 that hindered American companies from delivering a crucial military capability to our allies and partners,” according to the White House statement.
The Obama administration transitioned several articles from State Department U.S. Munitions List Category VIII (Aircraft and Related Articles), which includes drones, to the Commerce Department’s Commerce Control List between October 2013 and October 2015 as part of that administration’s export control reform efforts.
A State Department spokesperson on Friday said the Trump administration policy won’t replace UAS regulations issued as part of the previous administration’s export control reform activities.
“Today’s announcements are key first steps in a series of government-wide initiatives to strengthen our allies, support the manufacturing and defense industrial base and drive American job creation and innovation,” the statement said.
The presidential memorandum supersedes the U.S. conventional arms transfer policy set out in Presidential Policy Directive-27, issued Jan. 15, 2014.
A State Department fact sheet states that the new drone export policy replaces State’s previous policy for such exports announced Feb. 17, 2015.
Under the policy, transfers of armed and unarmed drones are allowed via either direct commercial sale or foreign military sale (FMS), unless other guidance or restrictions relevant to the particular case require the transfer to take place via FMS.
Export recipients must agree as a condition of transfer not to undertake actions to arm both unarmed and armed drones without proper U.S. government authorization, the fact sheet says.
Civilian drones will continue to be subject to licensing requirements and policies of Commerce’s Export Administration regulations.
Each recipient state of military drones must agree not to transfer title to or possession of any defense article or related training or other defense service associated with a U.S.-origin military drone “so furnished to it” to anyone who’s not an officer, employee or agent of that country.
The presidential memorandum also sets out that the United States should work to prevent proliferation caused by arms transfers, by continuing participation in multilateral arms control arrangements, including MTCR, the U.N. Register of Conventional Arms, the U.N. Standardized Instrument for Reporting Military Expenditures, the Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies, as well as regional initiatives that enhance transparency in conventional arms transactions.
In making arms transfer decisions, the executive branch should take into account U.S. national security, diplomacy and economic security, the memorandum states.
Trump directs new arms, drone export policies
