AUKUS: Trilateral Alliance to Ease Restrictions on Arms Sharing

Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom – a trilateral alliance known as AUKUS – have reached an agreement on how to ease restrictions on arms sharing, marking a crucial advancement in their efforts to integrate their defence industries.

On Thursday, the three nations updated their export regulations, exempting one another from existing limitations on the exchange of weapons.

Previously, these rules imposed barriers on what each country could share. For example, before Australia could purchase American weapons, it was required to obtain a licence from the U.S. State Department, a process that often involved navigating a complex application that could take over a month to complete. With the newly amended rules, the US, UK, and Australia can now significantly lowering these barriers.

In the United States, the change involves revising the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), a detailed and time-consuming bureaucratic process.

On Thursday, the State Department announced it would issue an “interim final rule” to exempt Australia and the U.K. from needing licenses for 80% of U.S. commercial defense sales.

“These exemptions will facilitate billions of dollars in secure defense trade between and among the AUKUS nations,” Defense News reported a State Department official as saying.

Australia and the United Kingdom are also implementing their own updates, enacting legislation passed in their respective countries to enable these changes.

According to a statement from the U.K., the exemptions will cover $643 million of its annual defense exports. Meanwhile, the Australian government announced that the new regulations would eliminate the need for 900 permits for exporting goods to the U.S. and U.K., amounting to $5 billion annually.

The State Department’s new rule will take effect on September 1st and will be open for public comment for 90 days.

However, not all weapons will be included under the new rules.

Certain items remain restricted, such as those covered by Congress’s annual defence policy bill, those related to missile technology, and items prohibited by international treaties, including chemical weapons and landmines. A State Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, reportedly clarified these exemptions during a briefing.

Although many of the newly cleared items will bolster the defence partnership, some critical technologies related to AUKUS, including the development of nuclear-powered submarines, drones, and hypersonic weapons, remain subject to licensing requirements.

Richard Marles, Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister, emphasised the importance of the new rules in an interview with Defense News.

He noted that the changes are essential for the success of AUKUS, both for the submarine initiative and the pillar focused on advanced technology.

Australia and the U.K. will still have access to equipment on the “excluded technologies list” (ETL) but will require a licence to do so. The State Department’s new rule will expedite these applications going forward.

Despite these remaining limitations, the agreement has been widely celebrated as a significant achievement. “This is happening quickly and remarkably, given that we’ve been pursuing it for decades,” Marles commented.

Marles was in Washington for discussions with U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and a summit involving top diplomatic officials from the three nations.

During the meetings, they announced plans to jointly build and develop munitions by December. Austin also had a phone conversation with his British counterpart on Wednesday to discuss ongoing collaboration.

While further efforts may be needed to fully realise the partnership’s potential, Marles emphasized that this agreement represents a substantial leap forward. “We’ll keep pushing our case with the U.S.,” he said, “but the big step has been taken.”