US President Donald Trump declared a national emergency that allows for a ban on the use of any foreign equipment that threatens the security of the electricity grid "to protect critical infrastructure from foreign threats."
The US president signed the decree on the grounds that there were threats to the country’s main energy system, from vital electricity transmission infrastructure to high-voltage networks, substations, and power generation plants.
Under the executive order, the U.S. Department of Energy will be able to prohibit the purchase, import, transfer, and installation of foreign equipment deemed a threat to national security. Restrictions may include high-voltage transformers, generators, inverters for solar power systems and batteries, electrical protection equipment, industrial control systems, and associated software, firmware, and digital services.
Trump wrote in the text of the decree published on the official White House website: "As President of the United States, my supreme duty is to protect the national security, foreign policy, and economy of this country."
He added: "Certain foreign actors are increasingly creating and exploiting vulnerabilities in the United States' main energy system, which provides the electricity that supports our national defense, vital emergency services, critical infrastructure, and economy."
He added: "During my first presidential term, I found that the main energy system could be a target for those seeking to commit malicious acts against the United States, including malicious cyber activities, because of the grave risks that any successful attack would pose to our economy, human health and safety, and our national defense."
He said: "Since my first term, the threat to the United States regarding foreign supply of critical power system equipment has become more acute: Rapid growth in advanced manufacturing, data centers, artificial intelligence, and defense production has increased the nation's dependence on abundant and reliable electricity, and magnified the consequences of any successful attack or supply disruption to the critical power system."
The president argued that "the minimal restrictions imposed on borrowing or operating foreign-produced main electrical power system equipment in the United States enhance the ability of certain foreign entities to create and exploit weaknesses in this equipment."
