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The United States is easing restrictions on sharing sensitive technology with Britain and Australia, removing a barrier to trilateral defence cooperation as the allies try to counter China in the Indo-Pacific.
The U.S. State Department is amending its International Traffic in Arms Regulations to facilitate the sharing of military-related technology with allies, removing some barriers to Aukussubmarine development and advanced technology deal that the allies agreed in 2021.
The reform means Britain and Australia will no longer need to seek licences to access US technology for about 80 per cent of defence-related trade with the United States, the foreign ministry said.
“These important reforms will revolutionise defence trade, innovation and collaboration, enabling collaboration at the speed and scale required to meet our challenging strategic circumstances,” said Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles.
One British official described the reforms as a “big deal” because they “help the UK, Australia and the US compete as much as possible with China”.
The UK government estimates that the current ITAR regime costs the UK around £450 million a year.
Britain and Australia have been pushing the United States for years to ease restrictions, an effort that became more urgent after the signing of the Aukus Treaty, which required unprecedented levels of cooperation and information sharing.
The British official said the move would lower the barrier to cooperation on Pillar 1 of the Aukus, which involves the United States sharing nuclear propulsion technology to allow Australia — along with Britain — to build a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines. But the move would also be “important” for Pillar 2, in which the three allies are collaborating on areas ranging from hypersonics to artificial intelligence and underwater military capabilities.
The United States maintains exemptions for a range of technologies that still require licenses, but will speed up the license approval process.
“It doesn’t remove barriers. [But] “It significantly lowers the bar,” said one UK official, adding that once the new system was proven effective, it would “open up space for further improvements”.
He added that while the UK “would be happy with a shorter exemption list” but stressed that Thursday’s change was a very important step forward that was welcomed by London.
The ITAR reforms do not affect US restrictions on sharing sensitive information with foreigners — a designation known as “NoForn” — which has hampered efforts between countries and made it difficult for governments to share information with their own defense companies.
But US allies are hoping that the Itar reforms will help change the culture and, as British officials have put it, “reduce the NoForn instinct”.
The reforms became possible after Britain and Australia made changes to their export control regimes to convince Washington that any US technology shared with the two allies would remain protected.
