TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A second Trump administration would bring more weapons to Taiwan, US-Taiwan Business Council (USTBC) President Rupert Hammond-Chambers said at a Global Taiwan Institute panel discussion on Wednesday (Aug. 28).
Hammond-Chambers pointed out that based on how the Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, handled arms sales to Taiwan in the past, it will be a much more relaxed process. Overall, Trump tends to provide more military hardware while pressuring allies to purchase more, he said.
Regarding the Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, Hammond-Chambers said he expected her to continue the Biden administration’s approach, which cautiously maintains a steady stream of sales. Big ticket weapons would remain largely restricted, he said.
Under Biden, sales have mostly focused on munitions, which is the right direction, but for Taiwan’s overall defense needs, is very limited, Hammond-Chambers said.
However, the USTBC president noted that restrictions on Taiwan's access to technology on the global market have loosened. European and Israeli companies have assisted in unprecedented ways due to their governments showing more flexibility in handling restrictions, he said.
According to a 2023 CATO report on US arms sales to Taiwan, Trump sold US$1.9 billion worth of weapons. His administration largely approved traditional weapons, such as new F-16 fighter jets and M1A2T Abrams tanks.
The report said the Trump administration was responsible for the backlog of arms deliveries. Trump “essentially ran up a huge arms sale tab with Taiwan,” CATO said. Ultimately, timely deliveries fall on the Biden administration, it added.
Meanwhile, Biden provided US$1.6 billion worth of arms to Taiwan. He doubled the number of maintenance sales, such as aircraft spare parts and communications systems, according to the report. The administration must now “focus on sustaining what Taiwan already has instead of announcing big-ticket items that would further inflate the backlog.”
CATO predicted that future sales will continue to be maintenance items or munitions. The most recent sale was 720 Switchblade drones and 291 Altius drones in June.
