President Trump Should Give Poland ITAR Relief (From RealClearDefense)

The full text is available below and on the RealClearDefense website here.

President-elect Donald J. Trump likes Poland, and he and President Andrzej Duda are friends.  But like many other American friends, Poland is caught in the long waiting line of Foreign Military Sales (FMS) that was always bad but has worsened with the advent of the Ukraine war.  There is so much demand for American defense and aerospace products around the world that even our best friends have horrid waits receiving their equipment.  Not months. Years. 

For Poland, that just won’t work. Poland is America’s most important NATO partner on the eastern front confronting Russia.  President Trump should think about treating Poland more like Australia and Britain, and waive many arms sales regulations to accelerate Poland’s defense modernization.

No NATO member has changed more since Trump’s first term.  Poland sent 325 tanks to Ukraine, took in nearly one million Ukrainian refugees, and is leading all of NATO, including the US, with 4.7% of GDP devoted to defense spending.  Don’t forget 10,000 US forces are also stationed in Poland. 

Trump’s vision for a transatlantic alliance sees NATO allies pulling a major share of the load in military capability and defense spending.  In return, the US contributes its deterrence credibility with forward-deployed military forces on front-line borders with Russia.  As President Trump’s plans for the alliance unfold, including whatever fix he has in mind for the Ukraine war, Poland will likely end up being the centerpiece of American efforts. 

To that end, Poland is buying top of the line jet fighters, helicopters, air defense and armor in a relentless and expensive military buildup. They are spending $50 billion purchasing American technology and military equipment. That is an incredible amount of capital, and jobs, for Americans. In the meantime, European Union officials in Brussels are cooking up plans to start steering aerospace business away from American companies. 

Poland’s build up is also creating a pile of equipment to maintain and repair.  Yet under current International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) rules, Poland is struggling to get repair facilities like the Regional Sustainment Center at Powidz up and running.  US and other NATO members will depend on this facility to fix tanks and other combat vehicles. 

The Ukraine conflict and sudden requirement to supply military assistance to Ukraine has highlighted the surprising fragility of US and European defense industrial capability. Production diplomacy, which seeks to integrate the defense industrial bases of allies and partners, protect supply chains, strengthen alliances, and enhance deterrence and readiness, is an American priority.

With ITAR, America rightly protects its best “stuff” from falling into unfriendly hands. This set of US government regulations controls the export of defense and military technologies.  It is a necessary but slow-moving bureaucratic process that can even hang up our best allies like Britain and Japan.

However, for Poland, the Trump team should enact some ITAR flexibility.  For example, Australia and Britain are receiving ITAR relief through the AUKUS Treaty, and it might be worth considering the same for Poland, which would appear to be in a much more precarious position with Russia and the Ukraine war right on its doorstep. 

The Trump administration could revise the statutes, waiving some of the requirements stipulated for arms sales and security assistance for Poland.  They could even apply specifically for certain systems like M1 Abrams tank co-production and co-sustainment, a high priority for Polish military and industry leaders. Abrams tanks are the first batch of powerful weapons moving into the repair and sustainment phase in Poland and could pave the way for maintenance agreements for helicopters, air defense systems and even fighter jets.  It’s a better option than shipping broken engines back across the Atlantic for repair. 

Of course, the Defense Department would want certain safeguards in place for capabilities such as armor, electronic warfare, and night vision.  But the Trump administration might be able to carve out emergency areas for Poland and other friends with executive orders, an effectively used tool in the first Trump administration, though not for defense trade.

A third option might be a new mutual defense agreement between the US and Poland that could strengthen Poland’s defense industrial base and get them the technologies and platforms they need faster.

As America addresses growing Chinese military capability in the Pacific theater, the Trump Administration should support NATO allies who are stepping-up to deter Russia by waiving and mitigating counterproductive bureaucratic obstacles like ITAR. 

About the Author: Merrick “Mac” Carey is the Chief Executive Officer of the Lexington Institute, a public policy think tank in Arlington, Virginia.