US greenlights more than $54 billion in military equipment to foreign governments

  • The U.S. sold more than $54 billion in military equipment to foreign governments in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, according to the Pentagon’s top financial officer.
  • The increase in foreign military sales comes amid trade tensions between the U.S. and China, the world’s two largest economies, and increased sanctions on Russia.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. sold more than $54 billion in military equipment to foreign governments in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, the Pentagon’s top financial officer told a small group of reporters.

“We’ve had a 62 percent increase in foreign military sales, over $54 billion,” David Norquist, the Defense Department’s comptroller, said alongside Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan on Oct. 3.

“I don’t know if it’s a record, but if it is, and it’s close to that, that matters. It matters, not only because it helps our industrial base, … it helps our economy,” Norquist explained, adding that the foreign military sales forge closer relationships with key allies.

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“Those are folks buying equipment that’s interoperable, and those are allies that we’re now working with on a close and more regular basis,” Norquist said.

The increase in foreign military sales comes amid intensifying trade tensions between the U.S. and China, the world’s two largest economies, and increased sanctions on Russia.

www.cnbc.com/2018/10/09/us-oks-more-than-54-billion-in-military-equipment-to-foreign-nations.html

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