Paradox: New US arms sales policy takes human rights into consideration

The Donald Trump administration on Thursday, April 19, unveiled a US arms export policy that was due for sometime and aimed at expanding its sales of arms to allies, Reuters reported. It added that the new policy will boost the US defence industry and create more jobs in the domestic market.

The initiative, which was first reported by Reuters, meant the entire government would now throw its weight behind President Trump's personal role in promoting arms sales while meeting foreign heads of state.

"The White House aims to speed up arms deal approvals and increase the role of senior U.S. officials, including President Donald Trump, in closing foreign sales, while giving greater weight to business interests in sales decisions that have long prioritized human rights," the Reuters report said.

The Trump administration's new arms export policy will benefit companies like Boeing Co, Lockheed Martin Corp, Raython Co, Northrop Grumman Corp, etc.

It's been a year since the new policy was being worked on. White House trade adviser Peter Navarro played a driving force behind the project, Reuters added. Sixty-eight-year-old Navarro is known for making the administration take tough actions on trade vis-à-vis China, the report said.

It was also said that human rights will now have an equal importance along with other factors in the armed sales deals. The US said the new arms policy was a "balance" one.

Revealing his optimism over the new policy, Trump during a joint news conference with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe after meeting him in Florida said his administration was working to "short circuit" the complicated bureaucratic process at the state department and Pentagon to quicken the process of arms sales to allies like Japan and others.

The co-existence of the will to promote arms sales and the concern for human rights, however, has not convinced experts who feel this would encourage the potential abusers of human rights more.