WASHINGTON/SEOUL, 16 November (H.S.): In a significant policy shift reflecting its America First agenda, the Trump administration has notified South Korea of its decision to abolish a crucial waiver on development costs for U.S. arms purchases, a move set to substantially increase the financial burden on the key Asian ally.

The notification, delivered to the Seoul government in August, ends the long-standing practice of waiving non-recurring costs—one-time expenses tied to the research, development, and production of sophisticated defense systems. While the U.S. Arms Export Control Act permits these waivers for strategic partners to promote equipment standardization, the administration has opted to reverse this privilege for South Korea and other allies, including Japan and Australia, according to informed sources.

This decision comes at a time when South Korea has already committed to spending $25 billion on U.S. military equipment by 2030. The elimination of the waiver means Seoul will now have to cover these additional development fees on future government-to-government Foreign Military Sales (FMS) transactions.

The Pentagon did not offer a comment on Sunday when asked to confirm the policy change, which underscores the administration's push for what it terms more fair and reciprocal financial arrangements with its global partners.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar