U.S. Announces Arms Sales to Taiwan Worth More Than $10 Billion

The Trump administration has announced arms sales to Taiwan valued at more than $10 billion, according to CBS News, NBC News and Al Jazeera. CBS said it would be the largest U.S. weapons package ever for the island if Congress approves it, while Al Jazeera called it one of Washington’s largest-ever packages.

The State Department announced eight sales agreements late Wednesday, during President Donald Trump’s nationally televised address, in which he did not mention China or Taiwan, according to CBS and NBC. CBS said the total would exceed the $8.4 billion in U.S. arms sales to Taiwan during the entire Biden administration; Taiwan’s Defense Ministry put the eight agreements at $11.15 billion, CBS reported, and Al Jazeera reported $11.1 billion.

The items include 82 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, and 420 Army Tactical Missile Systems worth more than $4 billion, and 60 self-propelled howitzer systems and related equipment worth more than $4 billion. Drones are valued at more than $1 billion, military software at more than $1 billion, Javelin and TOW missiles at more than $700 million, helicopter spare parts at $96 million and Harpoon missile refurbishment kits at $91 million. CBS, NBC and Al Jazeera noted the rocket systems are similar to those the United States supplied to Ukraine.

The State Department said the sales serve “U.S. national, economic, and security interests by supporting the recipient’s continuing efforts to modernize its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability.” Taiwan’s defense ministry and presidential office welcomed the news, Al Jazeera reported, with the ministry saying the United States continues to help Taiwan keep “sufficient self-defense capabilities.”

The timing is notable. CBS said tension between the world’s two largest economies has ebbed and flowed during Trump’s second term, mostly over trade and tariffs but also over China’s growing assertiveness toward Taiwan. NBC noted that Beijing has said the island must reunify with the mainland, and CBS noted that President Xi Jinping has not ruled out the use of force.