Because export laws prohibit Japanese corporations from selling deadly weapons abroad, procurement may raise controversy.
As Washington hurries arms and ammunition to Ukraine for a planned counteroffensive against Russian forces, Washington is looking to secure supplies of TNT in Japan for 155mm artillery rounds.
Any purchase for pacifist Japan might raise difficulty since export laws prohibit Japanese businesses from selling deadly goods abroad, such the howitzer rounds fired every day by Ukraine at Russian soldiers occupying its southeastern areas.
Despite the weapons shortages throughout the world, the allies seem to have discovered a solution to allow the sale of TNT, according to two persons with knowledge of the situation, as reported by the Reuters news agency.
According to one of the persons with knowledge of the negotiations in Japan, "there is a way for the United States to buy explosives from Japan," they told Reuters under the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject.
Export controls for dual-use goods and equipment that are offered for sale commercially are less onerous than those on goods having just a military function.
According to the second source, Tokyo, which received US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin this week, has informed the US administration that it will permit the sale of industrial TNT because the explosive is not a commodity reserved for military purposes.
To send explosives to US army-owned munitions companies that would pack them into 155mm shell casings, the US intends to include a Japanese business in a TNT supply chain, the source continued.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Economy of Japan declined to confirm if any Japanese businesses had contacted them regarding the shipment of TNT. It also said in an email that products not covered by military limitations will be evaluated in accordance with standard export regulations that take the buyer's intentions into account, including whether their usage would compromise global security.
The Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency of the Japanese Defence Ministry declined to comment.
The US State Department said it was working with friends and partners "to provide Ukraine with the support it needs" to defend itself but did not directly respond to Reuters' inquiries on whether the US intended to purchase TNT in Ja
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