NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Thursday that he is working to persuade US President-elect Donald Trump to ease access for European partners to US weapons systems.
Rutte told dpa that European allies are already investing hundreds of billions of dollars in the US defence industry.
However, he believes that much more could be achieved if the US defence sector were liberalized, removing the need for approval from the Congress, the Pentagon and the White House .
Rutte pointed to European demand for Patriot missile defence systems. “They cost 2 billion a piece. So this is huge money for the US and for the US economy,” he said.
Currently, he noted, it takes an extremely long time to bring Patriot systems to Europe.
Rutte’s push for change comes amid expectations that Trump will put more pressure on European allies with relatively low defence spending.
Trump has long criticized NATO members for underinvesting in defence while depending too heavily on US protection.
During his first term, Trump even threatened to pull the US out of NATO over the issue.
On Tuesday, Trump called on NATO allies to commit 5% of their gross domestic product (GDP) to defence spending, up from the current 2% target. Rutte was expected to comment on this later on Thursday.
A liberalized US defence market would make it easier for European nations to invest more in defence, while allowing Trump to claim success in strengthening the US defence industry.
Relaxing restrictions could also reduce political tensions over weapons procurement from non-NATO countries.
For instance, Turkey’s purchase of the S-400 missile defence system from Russia sparked years of controversy. Ankara partly defended the move by pointing to its long-standing failure to secure the US-made Patriot system.
Rutte has repeatedly stressed the need for higher defence spending by European allies. Overall, he argued, European allies are now investing more than 2% of their GDP in defence. However, in four to five years, he warned, there will be a problem deterring Russia if spending does not increase.