{"id":27141,"date":"2019-01-25T10:00:44","date_gmt":"2019-01-25T10:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/01\/25\/us-arms-sales-suffering-under-shutdown\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:21:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:21:23","slug":"us-arms-sales-suffering-under-shutdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/industry\/2019\/01\/25\/us-arms-sales-suffering-under-shutdown\/","title":{"rendered":"US arms sales suffering under shutdown"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Andrea Thompson speaks with Aaron Mehta about how she thinks arms sales can speed up<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

Updated 1\/25\/19 1:35 PM EST \u2014 Late Thursday evening, the State Department announced it would be re-open processing of export licences for Direct Commercial Sales of defense items and services.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will prioritize the review and adjudication of licenses in the system at the time of implementation of lapse of funding operations on December 22, 2018,\u201d a department official told Defense News. \u201cWhile new license applications will be accepted and processed under standard procedures, we expect longer than normal processing times due to the high volume of licenses DDTC expects to receive. Cases requiring extensive interagency coordination or Congressional Notification may also be subject to longer than normal processing times.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 A top U.S. State Department official acknowledged Thursday that the government shutdown will have an impact on U.S. weapon sales, with potential long-term ramifications on sales totals for the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTruth be told, the last couple of weeks have set us back,\u201d Andrea Thompson<\/a>, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, said of the Foreign Military Sales process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere will be a bit of a bump \u2014 a gap, if you will \u2014 just because we haven\u2019t had the engagement with [Capitol] Hill\u201d normally seen in the process, she said. \u201cWe\u2019ll be able to make up some ground, but I am a realist. We have to work harder if we are going to have the numbers we had last year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The FMS process requires the State Department to verify a sale before clearing the potential deal and passing it along to the Senate. However, department employees have been furloughed for several weeks, only returning to work en masse recently when the department was able to recalibrate funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Trump administration has made increasing American arms sales abroad a key part of both its national security and economic strategies; that coincided with a major reform package of the FMS process, with the explicit goal of making it easier for friendly nations to procure American military goods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That policy change, known as the Conventional Arms Transfer policy<\/a>, or CAT, includes loosening International Traffic in Arms Regulations restrictions on exports and pushing more sales through the Direct Commercial Sales process, which is less labor intensive. Other policies targeted at encouraging partners to buy American goods, including dropping surcharges on products<\/a> and lowering the cost of transportation<\/a> for weapons, are also underway, with the head of Defense Security Cooperation Agency, Lt. Gen. Charles Hooper, leading the charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\t