Where Data Tells the Story
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President Trump has suggested he would be open to discussing future U.S. arms sales to Taiwan with Xi Jinping.
That statement was made as China stepped up military drills around Taiwan and as Taiwan’s main opposition leader arrived in Beijing on a self-described peace mission.
In light of that, today’s visualization shows the top 30 export destinations of U.S. military weapons in terms of trade value.
The data comes from The Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC), as of 2024.
While this explainer focuses on 2024 data, much recent data show that in 2025, America exported $952 million of military weapons.
And, the main destinations were South Korea, India, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, and Israel.
The main point remains that every country on the list now has a question about what American arms sales as a diplomatic negotiating tool means for their own security arrangements.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s $45.5 million in 2024 and $70 million in 2025 represent only the commercial side of U.S. defense support.
The United States has provided tens of billions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in 2022, most of which flows through government channels rather than commercial exports.
This distinction is crucial for interpreting trade data accurately.
While it’s too early to tell how 2026 will shape out, OEC data shows that in January 2026 alone, America exported military weapons mostly to Egypt ($80.8 million), Chinese Taipei ($17.8 million), and Israel ($8.9 million).