{"id":42013,"date":"2021-03-15T15:07:45","date_gmt":"2021-03-15T15:07:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2021\/03\/15\/us-increases-dominance-of-global-arms-exports\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:23:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:23:19","slug":"us-increases-dominance-of-global-arms-exports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/2021\/03\/15\/us-increases-dominance-of-global-arms-exports\/","title":{"rendered":"US increases dominance of global arms exports"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The United States has increased its share of the global arms market, while the Middle East is showing steady growth<\/a> as a customer, according to new information released March 15<\/a> by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From 2015 to 2019, the U.S. contributed about 35 percent<\/a> of global arms sales. SIPRI\u2019s new figures, studying the years 2016-2020, show the U.S. contributing about 37 percent of the overall arms market. American arms customers included 96 different states during this time period, with 47 percent of those sales going to the Middle East, according to the think tank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saudi Arabia, which was a favorite customer<\/a> of the Trump administration, accounted for 24 percent of total U.S. arms exports, the report stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, there are hints that overall global arms sales may be hitting a plateau. For the first time in 15 years, SIPRI found that the volume of deliveries of major arms between countries did not increase between the five-year blocks of 2011-2015 and 2016-2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is too early to say whether the period of rapid growth in arms transfers of the past two decades is over,\u201d Pieter Wezeman, a senior researcher with the SIPRI Arms and Military Expenditure Programme, said in a statement. \u201c\u2018For example, the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic could see some countries reassessing their arms imports in the coming years. However, at the same time, even at the height of the pandemic in 2020, several countries signed large contracts for major arms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compared to the 2011-2015 time period, Russian arms sales declined 22 percent, French sales increased 44 percent, German sales increased 21 percent and Chinese sales decreased 7.8 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While China is viewed in the U.S. as a potential threat to American military exports<\/a>, it\u2019s not producing everything in-house. In fact, Beijing was the largest arms importer in East Asia, bringing in 4.7 percent of all global arms imports in 2016-2020, the think tank found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bulk of China\u2019s imports comprised air defense systems, combat aircraft and engines for combat aircraft from Russia \u2014 the latter of which SIPRI noted is likely to decrease as domestic capability comes online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other notable points included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n