Trump bans foreign-made bulk power grid equipment in emergency order – qz.com

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The executive order bars purchase, import, and installation of certain foreign-produced electrical equipment that could pose cybersecurity or operational risks
(Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump declared a national emergency on Wednesday and signed an executive order prohibiting the acquisition, importation, and installation of certain foreign-produced bulk-power system electric equipment in the United States on national security grounds.
The order, rooted in authorities granted under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the National Emergencies Act, targets equipment that poses an undue risk of sabotage, unauthorized access, supply disruption, or catastrophic effects on U.S. critical infrastructure. It applies to transactions involving entities owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction of governments facing U.S. arms embargoes or sanctions regimes, as well as any country the Secretary of Energy determines is engaged in conduct detrimental to U.S. national security or foreign policy.
"Certain foreign actors are increasingly creating and exploiting vulnerabilities in the United States bulk-power system," Trump said in the directive. "The rapid growth of advanced manufacturing, data centers, artificial intelligence, and defense production has increased the Nation's dependence on abundant, reliable electricity and magnified the consequences of a successful attack or supply disruption on the bulk-power system."
The order covers a broad range of equipment used in substations, control rooms, and power generating stations, including large transformers, utility-scale inverters, battery energy storage systems, industrial control systems, high voltage circuit breakers, and generation turbines, among other items. It does not apply to facilities used for local distribution of electric energy.
Under the terms of the order, the Energy Department must issue formal regulations carrying out the ban within 120 days. Energy Secretary Chris Wright is also directed to identify equipment already installed in the U.S. that poses risks and develop recommendations to address those threats, including potential isolation, monitoring, or removal.
The order also gives Wright authority to place requirements on foreign-made equipment that was already in service before the directive took effect, with consideration given to how any such requirements might affect grid reliability, safety, and continuity of service.
Shares of SolarEdge Technologies and Enphase Energy rose after the order was signed. The International Energy Agency estimates that China holds roughly 80% of worldwide manufacturing capacity for batteries and solar inverters.
The new order echoes a 2020 action Trump took in his first term, which labeled foreign-supplied grid components an extraordinary threat to national security and blocked purchases from flagged entities — a directive that former President Joe Biden subsequently rescinded, according to Bloomberg. The new directive also directs the Energy Department to recommend revisions to federal procurement rules to prioritize U.S.-manufactured energy infrastructure within 180 days.
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