AUKUS Will Show Its Value in DoD Review, Senate Foreign Relations Chair Says
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch, R-Idaho, said June 17 that he expects the Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) partnership will demonstrate its worth in the Defense Department’s recently announced review of the security initiative.
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“AUKUS is a really good program that has done wonders to reinvigorate our relationship with the two countries involved,” Risch told Export Compliance Daily. “I suspect when all is said and done, people are going to see the value of it.”
A Commerce Department official said in March that an AUKUS-related rule the Bureau of Industry and Security issued last year to reduce defense-related export licensing requirements for Australia and the U.K. is having the intended impact by decreasing license applications for the two countries (see 2503200043).
The Defense review is supposed to look at whether AUKUS, which the Biden administration began in 2021 to promote defense trade, is aligned with President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda (see 2506130048). Several Democratic lawmakers have said they’re concerned the review may be a prelude to backing away from the partnership.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said June 17 that while he doesn't believe the Trump administration intends to end AUKUS, he considers the review "unnecessary" and is concerned it "will only delay things." The partnership "is very important," Wicker told Export Compliance Daily. "We need to go forward with it.”