Trump orders overhaul of weapons export controls to fast-track foreign sales
President Trump has signed an executive order to streamline foreign military sales and reevaluate missile technology export controls to ‘priority partners’, according to a White House directive published 9 April.
The order, ‘Reforming Foreign Defense Sales to Improve Speed and Accountability’, directs the Secretaries of State and Defence to ‘reevaluate restrictions imposed by the Missile Technology Control Regime on Category I items and consider supplying certain partners with specific Category I items,’ in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce.
Category I items under MTCR typically include complete rocket systems and unmanned aerial vehicles capable of delivering at least a 500kg payload to a range of at least 300km.
The order aims to ‘reduce rules and regulations involved in the development, execution, and monitoring of foreign defense sales and of transfer cases to ensure alignment with United States foreign policy objectives’, according to the text.
Within 60 days, the State Department must develop ‘a list of priority partners for conventional arms transfers’, while the Defence Department must identify ‘priority end-items for potential transfer’ to these partners, while ensuring the transfers ‘would not cause significant harm to United States force readiness’.
The executive order also directs a review and update of the ‘FMS-Only List’, which designates defence items that can only be purchased through the government-to-government Foreign Military Sales process rather than Direct Commercial Sales (‘DCS’) from US companies.
‘A rapid and transparent foreign defense sales system that enables effective defense cooperation between the United States and our chosen partners is foundational to these objectives’, Trump stated in the order. ‘Reforming this system would simultaneously strengthen the security capabilities of our allies and invigorate our own defense industrial base.’
Within 90 days, the administration will develop a plan to ‘consolidate technology security and foreign disclosure approvals’ and secure ‘exportability as a requirement in the early stages of the acquisition process.’
The order also directs the development, within 120 days, of a single electronic system to track all export licence requests and foreign military sales efforts ‘throughout the case life-cycle’.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/reducing-competitive-regulatory-barriers/https://www.state.gov/bureau-of-international-security-and-nonproliferation/releases/2025/01/missile-technology-control-regime-mtcr-frequently-asked-questions
