Germany is the world's fifth largest arms exporter, and income from foreign weapons sales accounts for about 5 percent of total export earnings.

For instance, China has become a major arms exporter.

The country was also one of the top world's arms exporters.

The arms exporters understand all this full well.

Britain, the third-leading arms exporter to the third world, increased its sales last year to $2.4 billion from $2 billion.

Russia is the world's second largest conventional arms exporter after the United States.

But restrictions on arms exporters (or at least fewer subsidies for them) will not solve the problem.

The amendments seek to make life easier for arms exporters.

And traditional arms exporters, such as the Western European nations, are strong competitors.

China became a major international arms exporter during the 1980s.