Donald Trump is anticipated to clear Taiwan’s arms backlog by expediting the delivery of arms to Taipei that are already on order in an attempt to boost the self-ruled island’s combat capability.
Mike Waltz, the incoming US national security advisor, said on January 14 that US President-elect Donald Trump intends to increase the pace of US military equipment and arms transfers to Taiwan.
Speaking at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, Waltz said, “We have over a $20 billion backlog of things that they paid for and that we need to work hard to free up and have them get what they paid for as a deterrent measure.” The statement comes after months of uncertainty regarding Trump 2.0’s policy towards Taiwan and China.
The President-elect stirred anxieties in Taiwan in July last year when he called upon Taiwan to pay the US for protection and dodged questions on whether he would militarily assist Taiwan against China’s military actions. However, the latest developments indicate that Trump will get the ball rolling on promised military aid.
China considers Taiwan a renegade Chinese province and has vowed to unite the island state of 24 million people with the Chinese mainland, with force if necessary.
In fact, if its military drills and expansion of military activity in the Taiwan Strait are anything to go by, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) forces are already preparing for an invasion. Military pundits believe that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan can be launched as early as 2027.
Taiwan needs to be armed to the teeth to thwart a Chinese invasion.
Though Donald Trump has not categorically spelled out his policy for Taiwan, his picks for the incoming administration hint at a continuation of engagement with Taiwan. For instance, Pete Hegseth, the nominee for secretary of defense, reiterated US support for Taiwan at his senate confirmation hearing on January 14.
In his previous term as US President, Trump sold more than US$18 billion worth of weapons to Taiwan, permitted cabinet-level visits to the island, and signed laws including the Taiwan Travel Act, TAIPEI Act, and Taiwan Assurance Act, which strengthened Washington-Taipei official relationship.
In November 2024, reports indicated that the Taiwanese government was contemplating buying a big package of arms from the Trump administration to boost the island’s defense.
“Currently, we do not have any such concrete list, but we welcome advice from all sides, with the most important thing being how to boost self-defense capacity,” a senior Taiwan security official told reporters at the time.
The clearing of the backlog will prove to be a massive boost to Taiwan’s combat capability amid rising Chinese military aggression in the Taiwan Strait. According to a recent estimate by the CATO Institute, a US-based think tank in Washington, the backlog of US weapons that have been sold but not delivered to Taiwan currently stands at US$21.87 billion.
Taiwan Awaits Arms Deliveries
The United States established diplomatic relations with China in 1979. However, it retained the right to sell arms to Taiwan under the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979. The act stipulates that the United States “will make available to Taiwan such defense articles and defense services in such quantity as may be necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability.”
According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the United States has sold more than US$70 billion worth of weapons to Taipei in recent years. However, a large chunk of these arms have not been delivered to Taiwan.
The US is arming Taiwan with MQ-9 drones, MANPADS, Patriot and NASAMS air defense systems, F-16 Viper fighter jets, HIMARS, and Abrams Main Battle Tanks (MBTs), to name just a few.
The US authorized Taiwan to purchase 66 F-16Vs for US$8 billion in 2019. The first F-16 Vipers were initially scheduled to be delivered in 2023. However, several factors, including coronavirus-related supply chain issues and some software issues, have led to unprecedented delays. The delivery will now be made by the end of 2026.
The delivery of Abrams MBTs has also been delayed, upsetting Taiwan’s security calculus. After long delays, the country received the first batch of 38 US-made Abrams M1A2T tanks on December 15. A total of 108 Abrams are on order, and there is no information on when the next batch of these war machines will arrive in Taiwan.
Another weapon that is believed to be crucial for combat against China that has been delayed is the TOW-2B anti-tank missiles. Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) announced on December 25 that the long-delayed delivery of all US-made TOW-2B anti-tank missiles will be completed soon. The COVID-19 pandemic, shortages of raw materials, and issues with quality control caused delays in the delivery of these missiles, which were originally scheduled for 2022.
Taiwan is also awaiting the delivery of MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones. The US$217.6 million deal stated that two aircraft would be delivered by May 2025. However, a US Air Force spokesperson told Defense News in March last year that the first two drones would only be delivered in 2026 and the final pair by 2027.
Several other weapon systems are currently awaiting delivery. While Taiwan received the first batch of High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), the delivery of the whole order has yet to be completed.
Taiwan has also purchased missiles such as AGM-84L-1 Harpoon Block II Missiles, AIM-9X Block II Sidewinder Missiles, Volcano (vehicle-launched) anti-tank munition-laying systems, AGM-88B HARM, HARM training missiles, AIM-120C-8 AMRAAM, and AIM-120C-8 AMRAAM Guidance Sections. Several of these munitions have yet to be delivered.
US senators are pressuring the Pentagon and White House to accelerate the delivery of arms to Taiwan. The goals are twofold: to aid Taiwan in fending off China and to deter China from considering attacking in the first place by providing Taipei with enough weapons to make an invasion ‘very costly.’
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