U.S. could make record arms sales to Taiwan in 2026: Business group

Taipei, Oct. 20 (CNA) U.S. arms sales to Taiwan in 2026 could reach a record high, pending the approval of a special national defense budget by Taipei later this year, the head of the US-Taiwan Business Council said Sunday.

Speaking to reporters before the annual U.S.-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference, which opened Sunday in Ellicott City, Maryland, Rupert Hammond-Chambers noted that Taiwan's government had already submitted its 2026 defense budget to the Legislature.

There is also an expectation for a special defense budget, perhaps in November, which could reach NT$1 trillion (US$32.68 billion), Hammond-Chambers said, citing Taiwanese media reports.

Such a bill would demonstrate to President Trump the "significant support" that Taiwanese parties across the political spectrum have for the defense of their country, he said.

Hammond-Chambers said the lack of arms sales to Taiwan nine months into Trump's second term was "relatively normal," given new administrations' habit of reviewing the policies of their predecessors and the increasing delays in confirming political appointees.

Similarly, U.S. media claims that Trump blocked a military aid package to Taiwan amid trade negotiations with China were "not our understanding at all," Hammond-Chambers said, arguing that Trump favors selling weapons, rather than providing military aid, out of consideration for U.S. taxpayers.

Despite the lack of sales this year, "2026 is potentially the largest gross total in value of arms sales to Taiwan in any one year," Hammond-Chambers said.

Many of those possible sales are "related to the special [defense] budget that will be submitted in a few weeks," he added.

Hammond-Chambers said he could not disclose what the sales would include, except to say that they would be "close to 100 percent asymmetric" and consist mostly of items Taiwan has previously purchased.

Regarding this year's U.S.-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference, Hammond-Chambers said it would focus heavily on "co-production" and "co-development" of things like unmanned vehicles for Taiwan's defense.

He said he agreed with President Lai Ching-te (賴清德), among others in Taiwan, about the growing demand for "non-red supply chains" -- those free of Chinese influence -- in defense and security.

As the requirement of non-red manufacturing networks increases, Hammond-Chambers said that Taiwan "is in a good position" to partner with the United States or European countries to develop UAVs for the Western market.