The Industrial, Employment and Security Costs of Arms Exports Background . Other Suggested Reading Background One of the most politically powerful claims supporting U.S. arms trading today is that weapons exports sustain American jobs. Shrinking military budgets have reduced the demand for military equipment, creating a buyer's market, and increased international competition allows customers to extract very favorable deals from suppliers. The value of offsets frequently exceeds the value of the weapons sold.
Offsets come in two forms.
Both types of offsets send work overseas, but direct offsets also raise serious security concerns, as they assist the development of foreign arms industries. Workers for Boeing and Lockheed Martin have rallied against licensed production of weaponry and technology transfers that result from direct offsets. In October 1995, one-third of Boeing's workforce went on strike, largely to protest the use of foreign subcontractors. In other cases, though, workers and firms may not realize that they are being negatively affected by military offsets. If the public realized that U.S. arms corporations were jeopardizing American jobs by assisting foreign competitors, opposition to arms sales would increase.