A modestly overweight Zara could be suspected without every figure being easy to prove. Adding a third turbine and its supporting boilers would make the violation much harder for British suppliers and treaty signatories to ignore. League of Nations sanctions often lacked American participation because the United States had not joined the League. The naval treaties did include the United States, so openly breaking them risked American involvement in sanctions and damage to Italy's export market. Foreign procurement dependence therefore constrained not only design secrecy but also Italy's freedom to defy the arms-control system.
Notable Point · 3:00:16-3:01:34
Naval treaties made blatant cheating a US trade risk
An obvious machinery increase would expose an overweight cruiser and could bring the United States into sanctions through naval-treaty enforcement.