“Representatives of America’s defense industry are concerned because they lose their dominant market position.”, – WRITE: www.unian.ua
Representatives of America’s defense industry are concerned because they lose their dominant market position.
Europe no longer rests in the US in the field of weapons buying / photo president.gov.uaUS President Donald Trump can undermine defense products to Europe. Since the old alliances break up, the European Union seeks to be armed, writes Foreign Policy.
Trump’s return to the post of US President creates a tension in transatlantic relations. His policy is controversial: it requires an increase in Europe’s defensive costs, but imposes tariffs, threatens with the withdrawal of troops and restrictions on technical support, in parallel by offering to buy US weapons.
“The Trump Administration’s approach to Europe has a consistency problem,” says John Herbst, a former US Ambassador to Ukraine. “You cannot publicly think that you will not sell advanced fighters in Europe, because it can become an enemy and then indignant when they decide not to buy a weapon from you.”
Europe reacts. The European Commission launched a plan for 2030 – 800 billion euros to strengthen defense, of which 150 billion in the form of loans for Member States. Money is limited to expenditures within the EU or approved countries in order to support its own defense industry.
This is a signal for the United States: Washington’s dependence is reduced. American defense companies are concerned. The industry’s representative said:
“We are not interested in the loss of the dominant position in the market.”
“Until recently, Europeans were fundamentally serious about defense planning,” says William Alberc, former NATO Center Director. “Their procurement system was complex, protectionist, with political procedures instead of technical requirements.”
Now the situation is changing – Europe coordinates with NATO, creates new defense banks and invests in its own forces. In the United States, the policy of “buying” will become the norm for the EU.
“Countries throughout Europe suddenly began to be very aware of what in practice it means their dependence on the United States,” said Anand Sundar of the European Council for International Relations. The United States has lost trust not only because of Trump – distrust has grown since Bush and Obama, which minimized Europe’s role in foreign policy.
The full -scale war in Ukraine has briefly resumed trust in the United States, but Trump blew it again. Ironically, but the current autonomy of Europe’s defense is exactly what Trump has sought publicly. If implemented correctly, it will reduce the pressure on US resources and strengthen partnership.
But inconsistency, warnings and threats can be expelled by Europe instead of a clear strategy. As Herbst said:
“You do not know what you have until you lose it. No other country has such rich or strong allies as the US in NATO and Europe. The cessation of this may be more expensive than the Maga movement imagines.”
Europe’s investments in the defense industryIn January, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky called on Europe to increase defense costs to 5% of GDP. He also urged Europe to learn how to fully take care of itself so that the world could not afford to ignore it.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg notes that Europe is responding to US threats to NATO’s exit and plans to increase its defense budgets. Journalists say that such plans have two problems. The first is the defense industry of Europe is not well developed and not ready for rapid re -equipment. And the second is that the arms reserves in Europe were almost exhausted because of the help of Ukraine in the war against the Russian Federation.
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