Cyber threats nudge Trump to sign executive order on foreign equipment in U.S. energy infrastructure

Citing cyber and other security threats, President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday that declares a national emergency to secure the U.S. bulk-power system and aims to prohibit certain foreign-produced equipment, software and systems from being used in the  country.

The order says it forbids “any acquisition, importation, transfer, or installation” of such foreign-produced equipment if it’s determined to pose a significant national security risk.

“To deal with the threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States, the Order, among other things, generally prohibits certain foreign-produced bulk-power system electric equipment, including associated critical software and digital capabilities that could pose cybersecurity or operational risks, from being purchased or installed in the United States, or appropriately conditions such purchases and installations to address those risks,” the White House said in a fact sheet.

The executive order is a response to fears of Chinese-made equipment housed within U.S. energy infrastructure, and a continuation of other measures from the Trump administration to shun that equipment.

The order, “Declaring a National Energy Emergency to Secure the United States Bulk-Power System,” cites “malicious cyber activities” as one impetus.

“The minimal restrictions on acquisition or operation in the United States of foreign-produced bulk-power system electric equipment augment the ability of some foreign entities to create and exploit vulnerabilities in such equipment; for instance, such equipment might have digital backdoors built into their systems that allow a foreign country to access that equipment remotely,” it states.

China supplies 85% of solar supply chain production capacity, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, and China is a major player in the power transformer manufacturing business.

In 2024, then-FBI Director Christopehr Wray told Congress that hackers prepositioning themselves in small office and home routers had the electricity grid as one of their targets should China and the United States go to war.

Near the end of Trump’s first term he also signed an executive order seeking to limit the purchase of foreign-made bulk-power equipment. The Biden administration suspended that order, citing the need to review its scope, and revoked and replaced a related Energy Department order. Some utilities found compliance with the 2020 executive order difficult.

For the new order, the Energy Department has 120 days to develop rules to implement the order, in consultation with other key departments.