Title page

Contents

Highlights 2

Letter 5

Background 7

Most RDP Agreements Contain Similar Provisions and Extend Automatically 12

Most RDP Agreements Contain Similar Key Provisions, With a Few Notable Variations 13

Most RDP Agreements Have Been in Place for Decades and Extend Automatically 14

DOD Waives Buy American Act for RDP Partner Countries, Even If Agreement Has Expired 16

DOD Does Not Have Written Policies and Procedures to Initiate and Renew RDP Agreements 18

DOD Does Not Have Written Policies and Procedures for Initiating and Renewing RDP Agreements 18

DOD Did Not Solicit Industry Input for Recent RDP Agreements 21

DOD Did Not Always Coordinate with Commerce, As Required, For Renewing RDP Agreements 22

Agencies Do Little to Assess and Monitor Effects of RDP Agreements on U.S. Industry 23

DOD Efforts to Assess and Monitor RDP Agreements Are Limited 23

Commerce Conducts Limited Assessment and No Monitoring of RDP Agreements 27

OMB Had Not Established a Plan for Reviewing RDP Agreements 33

Conclusions 34

Recommendations for Executive Action 35

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation 35

Appendix I: Scope & Methodology 37

Appendix II: Comments from the Department of Defense 43

Appendix III: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments 45

Table 1. Summary of All Public Comments DOD Received on Reciprocal Defense Procurement (RDP) Agreements Between 2018 and 2024 25

Figure 1. World Map of Current and Proposed RDP Partner Countries 10

Figure 2. Annual Average U.S. Defense Imports and Exports, 2019-2023 11

Figure 3. Reciprocal Defense Procurement (RDP) Agreements by Original and Most Recently Renewed Effective Dates and Inclusion of Automatic Extension Provisions 15

Figure 4. Department of Defense Stages to Initiate and Implement Reciprocal Defense Procurement Agreements 19