Trump Policies Could Drive Away Foreign Military Sales — Or Not, Experts Say

Peter Lichtenbaum was a panelist at the National Defense Industrial Association event “Reforming the Security Cooperation Enterprise” and is quoted in a National Defense article regarding the effect the Trump administration may have on foreign military sales. According to Lichtenbaum, it will take some determined efforts to educate the next administration on how foreign military sales fit into its goals of creating jobs or having allies share more of their defense burdens. Often times, large purchases of U.S. defense equipment come with offset stipulations, which can require that parts of production, and therefore the jobs, be moved to the purchaser’s country. “That might be seen as inconsistent with an administration that is trying to promote American manufacturing,” he says.