Former Arms Treaty Consultant Says US Withdrawal Could Put Exporters at Risk

A former consultant for the Arms Trade Treaty said President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the pact may "haunt" the U.S. for years and could place U.S. exporters’ supply chains at risk. Rachel Stohl -- in a May 3 commentary on WarOnTheRocks.com, a national security website -- wrote that while U.S. exporters still will be subject to “strict U.S. export control laws,” exporters “could see their supply chains or access to customers put at risk if a trading partner puts limits" on countries not party to the treaty.

Stohl wrote that the treaty, which entered into force in 2014, requires countries to implement “common-sense elements” in weapons-related export control systems that “simply make legitimate trade more efficient.” Stohl, who is a managing director at the security policy think tank Stimson Center, said that now, without the U.S. participating in treaty discussions, other countries can interpret the treaty and establish export practices “more consistent with their views and experiences and which ignore” perspectives the U.S. formerly offered. “Not having the United States as a treaty partner legitimizes the irresponsible transfers of countries like Russia, Iran, and North Korea,” she wrote. “It tells governments that they do not have to utilize restraint in their arms transfer decisions.”