TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Lawmakers on Thursday reached a cross-party consensus to authorize the Cabinet to sign four US arms procurement letters of offer and acceptance (LOAs) if budget reviews are not completed before contract deadlines, with the proposal expected to pass a second reading in the Legislative Yuan as early as Friday.

With the LOAs for three of eight arms sales to Taiwan worth US$11.1 billion (NT$353.07 billion) set to expire on Sunday, Defense Minister Wellington Koo (顧立雄) urged their swift signing, per CNA. The projects include purchases of TOW anti-tank missiles, Javelin missiles, M109A7 self-propelled howitzers, and the HIMARS multiple launch rocket system.

The proposal was originally sent directly to a second reading in the Legislative Yuan plenary session on March 6. Under Article 71-1 of the Act on the Exercise of the Legislative Yuan’s Powers, bills referred to cross-party negotiations normally face a one-month “cooling-off” period before returning to the floor.

However, the rule can be waived if all party caucuses agree. On Thursday, caucuses from the ruling and opposition parties signed off on the negotiation conclusions, effectively shortening the process.

The TPP caucus plans to request that the proposal be placed on the plenary agenda on Friday, with support from the KMT caucus, making second-reading passage likely that day. The Taiwan People’s Party caucus introduced the proposal on March 6, seeking authorization for the Cabinet to sign LOAs before the legislature completes budget deliberations if contract deadlines arrive first.

The cross-party negotiations on Thursday were chaired by TPP Legislative Caucus Deputy Convener Wang An-hsiang (王安祥). Lawmakers later agreed to expand the original three projects to include the HIMARS systems after the Ministry of National Defense received its LOA from the US on March 6.

According to the negotiation conclusions, the proposal aims to safeguard Taiwan’s strategic interests and ensure arms procurement timelines with allies are not disrupted by delays in the budget review process.

The agreement also requires the Cabinet to submit a comprehensive report to the Legislative Yuan after signing the LOAs, detailing weapons delivery schedules and ensuring the procurement returns to the normal legislative review process.

It adds that the Cabinet must provide a full explanation of the defense budget before and after its compilation and must not invoke national security as a reason to bypass democratic deliberation and oversight.