US eases tech curbs to boost Aukus security pact with UK and Australia

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The US is easing its restrictions on sharing sensitive technology with the UK and Australia, removing barriers to trilateral defence co-operation as the allies try to counter China in the Indo-Pacific.

The US Department of State is amending its International Traffic in Arms Regulation rules to facilitate military-related technology sharing with the allies, erasing some hurdles for Aukus, the submarine and advanced technology development accord the allies agreed in 2021.

The state department said the reform would mean the UK and Australia did not need to apply for licences to obtain American technology for roughly 80 per cent of their defence-related trade with the US.

“These critical reforms will revolutionise defence trade, innovation and co-operation, enabling collaboration at the speed and scale required to meet our challenging strategic circumstances,” said Richard Marles, the Australian defence minister.

One UK official described the reforms as a “big deal” because it was “about the UK, Australia and US being as competitive as they can with China”.

The UK government estimated that the current Itar regime had generated annual costs for the UK of about £450mn.

The UK and Australia have been pushing the US for years to ease the restrictions. The effort took on renewed urgency after the signing of the Aukus pact, which requires an unprecedented level of co-operation and information sharing.

The UK official said the move would ease roadblocks to co-operation on Pillar 1 of Aukus, which involves the US sharing nuclear-propulsion technology to enable Australia — in conjunction with the UK — to build a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines. But the move would also be “critical” to Pillar 2, in which the three allies are co-operating in areas ranging from hypersonics to artificial intelligence and undersea military capabilities.

The US is maintaining exemptions for a range of technologies that will still require a licence, but will provide an expedite licence approval process.

“It doesn’t remove the bar. [But] it lowers the bar significantly,” said the first UK official, who said that once the new system was proved to be effective it would “open the space for further progress”.

He added that while the UK “would have been happy with a shorter list of exemptions” but stressed that the change on Thursday was a very significant development that was welcomed by London.

The Itar reforms do not impact US restrictions on sharing sensitive information with foreigners — a designation known as “NoForn” — which has hampered efforts between the countries and made it difficult for governments to share information with their country’s defence companies.

But the US allies are hoping that the Itar reforms will help change the culture and, as the UK official put it, “reduce the instinct for NoForn”.

The reforms became possible after the UK and Australia made changes to their export control regimes to convince Washington that any American technology that was shared with the two allies would remain protected.