US considers joint weapons production with Taiwan

The US government is considering a plan to jointly produce weapons with Taiwan, a business lobby said on Wednesday, in a move aimed at speeding up shipments of those products to bolster Taipei’s deterrent against China.

Since 2017, US presidents have approved more than $20 billion in arms sales to Taiwan as China increases military pressure on the democratically governed island, which Beijing claims as its own territory.

But Taiwan and the US Congress have warned of delivery delays due to supply chain difficulties and delays caused by increased demand for some systems due to the war in Ukraine.

“It’s at the very beginning of the process,” Rupert Hammond-Chambers said of the plan. He is chairman of the US-Taiwan Business Council, which counts several US defense contractors as members.

Hammond-Chambers said it had not yet been determined which weapons would be considered part of the effort, though it would likely focus on providing Taiwan with more munitions and long-established missile technology.

But he warned that any such move would require manufacturers to obtain co-production licenses from the Departments of State and Defense. Hammond-Chambers added that there may be resistance within the US government to issuing co-production licenses due to discomfort with approving critical technology for a foreign platform.

Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment, but reiterated that relations between the two countries are “close and friendly”.

Asked about the effort, a US State Department spokesperson said: “The United States is reviewing all options to ensure the rapid transfer of defensive capabilities to Taiwan.”