Washington is expressing concern over the intentions of European countries to reduce their purchases of weapons from U.S. manufacturers.

Reuters reported this, citing five sources familiar with the situation.

U.S. officials have conveyed to their European counterparts that they hope European nations will continue to rely on American-made weapons.

This comes despite recent efforts by the European Union to limit the involvement of American manufacturers in arms supply tenders.

The reports emerged as the EU works to strengthen its own defense industry, while also reducing its purchases of certain types of American weapons.

In a March 25 meeting, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the foreign ministers of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia that the United States wants to continue participating in EU countries’ defense procurements, the sources told Reuters.

According to two of the sources, Rubio said any exclusion of U.S. companies from European tenders would be seen negatively by Washington.

One northern European diplomat, who was not part of the Baltic meeting, said they had also been recently told by U.S. officials that any exclusion from EU weapons procurements would be seen as inappropriate.

Rubio plans to discuss expectations that EU countries keep buying U.S. weapons during his visit to Brussels this week, where he will attend the NATO Foreign Ministers Meeting, a senior State Department official shared.

A State Department spokesperson said Trump welcomes recent efforts from European allies to “strengthen their defense capabilities and take responsibility for their own security,” but warned against creating new barriers that exclude U.S. companies from European defense projects.

U.S. Arms Sales

In the 2024 fiscal year, the United States sold weapons, equipment, and defense services worth a record $318.7 billion. This marked an approximately 28 percent increase compared to 2023.

In February, Reuters reported that the Trump administration considered encouraging European countries to purchase more American weapons for Ukraine. This was intended to strengthen Ukraine’s position ahead of potential peace negotiations with Russia.