What’s behind Donald Trump’s arms sales pitch in Asia?

By telling Japan and South Korea to protect themselves from North Korea by buying billions of dollars of American military equipment, US President Donald Trump signalled his intent to further fuel the escalating arms race in Asia and profit from it.

Trump’s idea will help the United States in two ways. First, it will reduce America’s financial burden to keep soldiers in different parts of the globe by partially shifting the load to host countries. Second, America’s trade deficit with its wealthy Asian partners will drop, while defence production will jump, which will create jobs at home. Combined, they can help him partially fulfil his election campaign pledges.

Asian nations are Trump’s customers of choice. Flush with newly minted wealth and mired in decades-old hostilities, these nations have been prime arms recipients for the past five years. India led the pack, absorbing 13 per cent of the global imports, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. New Delhi nearly doubled its imports during the period. Saudi Arabia, embroiled in a war in Yemen, came in second. China, Pakistan, South Korea and Singapore rank among the top importers.