December 24th marks the tenth anniversary of the entry into force of the landmark Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), the first international treaty to regulate the international trade in conventional arms. The treaty establishes common criteria governing conventional arms transfer decisions and aims to reduce human suffering and promote transparency over the reliably murky global arms trade.
Over the four years of its presidency, the Biden administration failed to remedy an egregious policy mistake of the Trump administration that undermined the ATT and instead has left the impression that the United States does not value the effort to improve responsibility, accountability, and transparency of the international arms trade.
Today, 116 countries are party to the Arms Trade Treaty, including nearly all of the United States’ closest allies, while another 26 states have signed it. The United States signed the treaty in September 2013, but has not become a State Party since the U.S. Senate has not provided its advice and consent to ratification.
In 2019, President Trump sent a letter to the United Nations Secretary-General, who serves as the depositary for the ATT, stating that the United States no longer intended to ratify the treaty and thus did not regard itself as having any legal obligations arising from the treaty. Although there is no mechanism within the ATT or provision in international law for “unsigning” a treaty, the message sent a clear message about how the United States viewed its international commitments to the treaty it was so instrumental in negotiating.
President Trump’s actions cost the United States leadership on the international stage (the United States is the world’s largest arms exporter), credibility (the United States played a leading role in negotiating the treaty and secured a number of provisions within the final text to protect its domestic interests), influence (the United States remains outside the treaty and is unable to influence the process, while countries like China serve in leadership roles in the treaty process), and interests (the United States has abiding foreign policy and national security interests in ensuring that weapons do not flow to governments that oppose U.S. priorities).
As a presidential candidate Biden promised to return to the ATT and support for the treaty was included in the Democratic Party’s 2020 platform. Yet, as we reflect on the Biden presidency in the waning days of its term, it has taken no real action other than allowing U.S. officials to attend treaty meetings. Reversing the Trump administration’s actions should have happened on Day One of the Biden presidency. The actual effort required was minimal: all that was needed was to send a letter to the ATT depositary (the UN Secretary-General) stating that the United States intend to ratify the treaty and would not undermine its object and purpose (to reduce human suffering and ensure a responsible, accountable, and transparent arms trade).
Instead, the Biden administration began its tenure by announcing that it was reviewing the U.S. Conventional Arms Transfer (CAT) Policy and would only turn to the ATT after that review was completed. While there may have been some logic in completing a review of the larger CAT Policy before taking action to reverse the ATT’s “unsigning,” this had the effect of delaying taking any action for almost two years – the Biden Administration’s CAT Policy was not issued until February 2023. In addition to the unfortunate effects of delaying work on the ATT, the CAT Policy itself represents a missed opportunity. While the content of the updated CAT Policy reflects the ATT’s linkage of human rights and arms transfers, contains text that mirrors the ATT text in many places, recommits the United States to participating in and supporting arms control agreements, and establishes a framework for U.S. arms exports that aligns closely with the standards laid out in the ATT, the Policy never directly references the ATT.
Even with the release of the CAT Policy, the Biden administration failed to send the letter. Instead, it continued its internal deliberations on the ATT, convening a political level discussion with relevant U.S. agencies with equities in the decision to confirm their support for ratifying the Treaty and becoming a State Party. This discussion approved a package to transmit the treaty back to the Senate for its advice and consent for ratification.
With weeks left in Biden’s term, the treaty still has not been sent to the Senate and no letter has been sent to the depositary. Civil society organizations have continued to press for an explanation of why the Biden administration has failed to follow through on its pledges and re-commit the United States to a treaty that is both closely aligned with its own CAT Policy and is clearly in the U.S. interest. Officials have informally pointed to other higher priorities, concerns that some would link action on the ATT to the administration’s efforts on domestic gun control, and worries that the ATT could become a political issue in the then-upcoming mid-term and presidential elections.
The ten-year milestone of the ATT will likely go largely unnoticed in the United States. The Biden administration has no incentive (nor would it be prudent for it to take action now) in recommitting to the treaty in its last month. The Trump administration would likely reverse such an action for political posturing that would further undermine the treaty. For four years Biden missed an opportunity to reassert leadership in an area dominated by the United States. Instead, the United States has ceded leadership to others, including China, and undermined a treaty that is consistent with U.S. law and practice and reflects U.S. values, interests, and priorities.
Biden’s Missed Opportunity on the Arms Trade Treaty
By Rachel Stohl
Conventional Arms
December 24th marks the tenth anniversary of the entry into force of the landmark Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), the first international treaty to regulate the international trade in conventional arms. The treaty establishes common criteria governing conventional arms transfer decisions and aims to reduce human suffering and promote transparency over the reliably murky global arms trade.
Over the four years of its presidency, the Biden administration failed to remedy an egregious policy mistake of the Trump administration that undermined the ATT and instead has left the impression that the United States does not value the effort to improve responsibility, accountability, and transparency of the international arms trade.
Today, 116 countries are party to the Arms Trade Treaty, including nearly all of the United States’ closest allies, while another 26 states have signed it. The United States signed the treaty in September 2013, but has not become a State Party since the U.S. Senate has not provided its advice and consent to ratification.
In 2019, President Trump sent a letter to the United Nations Secretary-General, who serves as the depositary for the ATT, stating that the United States no longer intended to ratify the treaty and thus did not regard itself as having any legal obligations arising from the treaty. Although there is no mechanism within the ATT or provision in international law for “unsigning” a treaty, the message sent a clear message about how the United States viewed its international commitments to the treaty it was so instrumental in negotiating.
President Trump’s actions cost the United States leadership on the international stage (the United States is the world’s largest arms exporter), credibility (the United States played a leading role in negotiating the treaty and secured a number of provisions within the final text to protect its domestic interests), influence (the United States remains outside the treaty and is unable to influence the process, while countries like China serve in leadership roles in the treaty process), and interests (the United States has abiding foreign policy and national security interests in ensuring that weapons do not flow to governments that oppose U.S. priorities).
As a presidential candidate Biden promised to return to the ATT and support for the treaty was included in the Democratic Party’s 2020 platform. Yet, as we reflect on the Biden presidency in the waning days of its term, it has taken no real action other than allowing U.S. officials to attend treaty meetings. Reversing the Trump administration’s actions should have happened on Day One of the Biden presidency. The actual effort required was minimal: all that was needed was to send a letter to the ATT depositary (the UN Secretary-General) stating that the United States intend to ratify the treaty and would not undermine its object and purpose (to reduce human suffering and ensure a responsible, accountable, and transparent arms trade).
Instead, the Biden administration began its tenure by announcing that it was reviewing the U.S. Conventional Arms Transfer (CAT) Policy and would only turn to the ATT after that review was completed. While there may have been some logic in completing a review of the larger CAT Policy before taking action to reverse the ATT’s “unsigning,” this had the effect of delaying taking any action for almost two years – the Biden Administration’s CAT Policy was not issued until February 2023. In addition to the unfortunate effects of delaying work on the ATT, the CAT Policy itself represents a missed opportunity. While the content of the updated CAT Policy reflects the ATT’s linkage of human rights and arms transfers, contains text that mirrors the ATT text in many places, recommits the United States to participating in and supporting arms control agreements, and establishes a framework for U.S. arms exports that aligns closely with the standards laid out in the ATT, the Policy never directly references the ATT.
Even with the release of the CAT Policy, the Biden administration failed to send the letter. Instead, it continued its internal deliberations on the ATT, convening a political level discussion with relevant U.S. agencies with equities in the decision to confirm their support for ratifying the Treaty and becoming a State Party. This discussion approved a package to transmit the treaty back to the Senate for its advice and consent for ratification.
With weeks left in Biden’s term, the treaty still has not been sent to the Senate and no letter has been sent to the depositary. Civil society organizations have continued to press for an explanation of why the Biden administration has failed to follow through on its pledges and re-commit the United States to a treaty that is both closely aligned with its own CAT Policy and is clearly in the U.S. interest. Officials have informally pointed to other higher priorities, concerns that some would link action on the ATT to the administration’s efforts on domestic gun control, and worries that the ATT could become a political issue in the then-upcoming mid-term and presidential elections.
The ten-year milestone of the ATT will likely go largely unnoticed in the United States. The Biden administration has no incentive (nor would it be prudent for it to take action now) in recommitting to the treaty in its last month. The Trump administration would likely reverse such an action for political posturing that would further undermine the treaty. For four years Biden missed an opportunity to reassert leadership in an area dominated by the United States. Instead, the United States has ceded leadership to others, including China, and undermined a treaty that is consistent with U.S. law and practice and reflects U.S. values, interests, and priorities.
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