President Trump will loosen rules governing the export of lethal drones to U.S. allies, Reuters reports, and may announce these changes as soon as this month.
The president has been lobbied by American drone manufacturers, who say foreign rivals are beating them on the international market thanks to fewer restrictions in their home countries, like China and Israel. Trump is expected to cast the change as a feature of his "Buy American" campaign, which also includes his steel and aluminum tariffs plan. Though rules may not be changed for the Predator drone, the white craft that has become the face of the U.S. drone war, sources told Reuters that both surveillance craft and smaller drones that carry fewer missiles over shorter distances will be affected.
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