US, Japan ink MoU on Japanese weapons parts sales to America
The United States has allowed the open sales of Japanese military equipment to American arms manufacturers.
US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and Japanese Minister of Defense Gen Nakatani signed a Reciprocal Defense Procurement Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) during a meeting Saturday on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD) gathering in Singapore.
The agreement would make it easier for Japanese companies to supply US arms giants like Lockheed Martin Corp and Raytheon Co. with parts designed specifically for military projects.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2014 lifted a decades-old ban on arms exports.
When procuring military equipment, the US restricts the use of materials from overseas, such as titanium and other metals, imposes a "Buy American" policy and adds tariffs and other duties on foreign parts.
The new agreement applies a blanket waiver to those restrictions, easing access to the US military market, according to Reuters.
The United States, which has spent some 600 billion dollars annually on military over the past few years alone, accounts for nearly a third of global military expenditure, outspending its nearest rival China by as much as four times.
It has defense procurement pacts with 23 other countries, mostly European North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) partners.
Japan is the first Asian country to join that list.
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