By Patricia Zengerle and Mike Stone
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is planning an executive order that would ease rules governing exports of military equipment, and could announce it as soon as Tuesday or Wednesday, four sources familiar with the discussions said.
The sources, some in government and some in industry, said they expected the order would be similar to legislation proposed by Trump’s national security adviser, Michael Waltz, last year when he was a Republican member of the House of Representatives.
White House aides did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
If it had become law, that bill would have amended the U.S. Arms Export Control Act to increase the minimum dollar amounts that trigger a congressional review of arms exports to other countries. They would increase to $23 million from $14 million for arms transfers, and rise to $83 million from $50 million for the sale of military equipment, upgrades, training and other services.
During his first term, Trump often expressed frustration with members of Congress delaying foreign arms sales over human rights or other concerns.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Mike Stone; additional reporting by Gram Slattery; editing by Chris Sanders and Deepa Babington)
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