WASHINGTON, May 16 (Reuters) - The United States will soon send additional security assistance to Taiwan, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Tuesday.

"The United States will soon provide significant additional security assistance to Taiwan through (the) presidential drawdown authority that Congress authorized last year," Austin told lawmakers.

The presidential drawdown authority, or PDA, is a type of authority that expedites security assistance and has helped to send arms to Ukraine.

Earlier this month Reuters reported that U.S. President Joe Biden's administration plans to send $500 million worth of weapons aid to Taiwan using the authority.