U.S. defense companies have established long-term relationships with America's closest friends and allies in the international community. The transactions, be they large systems like fighter jets or smaller components, are tightly regulated and controlled by the U.S. government to ensure defense technology only ends up in the hands of friends and not foes. One of the best reasons to encourage defense trade is interoperability of weapons and defense systems. For decades U.S. military actions have almost always been undertaken with allies, and supplying them with U.S. made systems ensures common communications and capabilities. Defense trade makes the United States more secure both domestically and internationally.

Congress passed the Arms Export Control Act in 1968, and has amended it many times since. The law authorizes the president to establish a list of defense articles and services, known as the U.S. Munitions List. The State Department in turn has established the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, which govern the export of any item, service, or technology on the munitions list. A U.S. company wishing to sell an item on the munitions list must apply for an export license from the State Department. That department in turn frequently seeks the advice of other agencies, particularly the departments of Defense and Commerce, before determining whether or not to issue a license.

In 60 years of arms transfers, no large-scale U.S. military equipment has ever been used against American forces.

The U.S. aerospace and defense industry had a foreign trade surplus of $31 billion in 2004. A total of $4 billion of that surplus was in defense items. About 20 percent of U.S. weapons systems output are exported representing billions of dollars toward that surplus and tens of thousands of U.S. jobs directly supported by foreign defense trade. Sales to foreign customers have frequently been critical to keeping open entire production lines, such as the F-16 and F-15 fighter jets and Apache helicopter. In turn, keeping open those lines protects blue-collar workers and lower-tier suppliers that are critical to a healthy defense industrial base.

The munitions list has strayed from its original purpose of keeping dangerous weapons from enemies. Today companies find they must obtain export licenses for items used in weapons systems that are variants of commercial products, such as hydraulic tubes, steering wheels, electric motors, etc. Most of these items are available worldwide in comparable commercial form, or can be easily produced by many manufacturers. There is a need to continuously review the munitions list as well as the export control process to ensure that it is meeting its intended objectives.