Export of BiH weapons and ammunition to the US market resumed

(Patria) - The export of weapons and ammunition from Bosnia and Herzegovina to the United States resumed in April, after being almost completely halted at the end of last year and the beginning of this year, writes BiznisInfo.ba.

Let us recall that the US market was among the most important buyers of products from the BiH defense industry for years. However, the situation changed significantly after additional customs duties of 30 percent on goods from BiH came into effect in August last year.

At the beginning of this year, the export of weapons and ammunition from BiH to the US was only symbolic. According to data for the first three months of 2026, the US was not even among the top ten export markets for products from the BiH defense industry.

However, April brought a turnaround that could herald stabilization and a gradual recovery of exports to this extremely important market.

Namely, according to aggregated data for the first four months of this year, it is evident that exports to the US have significantly reactivated again.

The value of exports reached more than 5.2 million KM, making the United States once again a high 4th place among the most important export markets for BiH weapons and ammunition.

For comparison, in the first two months of this year, exports to the US market amounted to only about half a million marks.

Although it is still significantly less compared to the export levels that BiH previously achieved to the US, the more than five million KM in April represents the first serious signal of recovery after months of decline.

Interestingly, this recovery comes after the Supreme Court of the United States on February 20th abolished Trump's global tariffs, including additional duties on goods from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

That decision opened up the possibility for companies that previously paid additional duties to seek certain compensation and refunds.

However, for BiH exporters, it is much more important that the space for products from Bosnia and Herzegovina to become competitive in the US market has reopened, a market that for years was considered one of the most profitable for the domestic defense industry.

Nevertheless, the overall indicators for the defense industry sector remain very poor. Total exports of weapons and ammunition from BiH for the first four months of this year amounted to 78.5 million KM, which is as much as 57.2 percent less than in the same period last year.

According to data obtained by BiznisInfo.ba, the undisputed largest buyer was the Czech Republic with about 41 million KM in exports, followed by Poland with eight million and Iraq with about six million KM.

The data clearly shows how important the US market is for the domestic defense industry. Without major buyers from the US, the sector clearly cannot maintain its previous growth pace, while alternative markets cannot compensate for the loss of revenue for now.

Therefore, the April data could represent the first sign that the BiH defense industry is gradually returning to the US market, which could be of great importance for the sector's overall export results in the coming months.