Opening the US defence market

Many European defence companies aspire to gain access to the US defence market. America has the largest defence budget in the world – some $280 billion, or 3.3 per cent of GDP in 2000 – and is the source of much of the world's most advanced defence technology. In contrast, the defence budgets of the EU countries, at approximately $145 billion, are only 1.8 per cent of GDP. America's defence budget, like that of most EU countries, fell rapidly during 1990s. But in recent years, unlike the European budgets, it has risen again.