U.S. President Donald Trump again banned the import, installation and use of foreign-made large-scale power systems used on the U.S. power grid.

TechRadar, an IT media outlet, reported on Aug. 27 that Trump declared a national emergency and signed an executive order blocking Americans and U.S. companies from buying, importing, transferring or installing foreign-made power systems judged a national security risk.

The measure covers software as well as hardware. The U.S. Department of Energy plans to analyse how much foreign hardware or software is included in existing power systems, and to examine whether it can separate or remove those parts and replace them with U.S.-made alternatives.

Large-scale power systems refer to power plants, transmission lines, substations and related equipment and software used to operate them. They are high-voltage infrastructure responsible for power production and transmission across the United States, and are classified as core infrastructure of the power grid. Disruption of power systems can lead to widespread blackouts, making them a sensitive area for cybersecurity and national security.

In the executive order, Trump said "some foreign actors are increasingly creating and exploiting vulnerabilities in U.S. large-scale power systems." He also said that during his first term he had already judged the system could be a target of malicious acts aimed at the United States, especially cyber activity, and stressed that a successful attack could pose major risks to the economy, human life and national defence.

Under the order, the Energy Department holds key authority. If it judges a specific foreign-made power system a national security risk, individuals and companies in the United States can no longer bring it in or install it. The criteria for assessing risk and how the order will be enforced have not yet been specified.

This is not the first time the Trump administration has taken a step in the same direction. In mid-2020, Trump issued an almost identical executive order, saying foreign adversaries could pose threats through power equipment. But the Joe Biden (Joe Biden) administration suspended the measure for 90 days in January 2021 to review whether to replace it, and the Energy Department later officially withdrew it.

The direct target of the new measure is not specified, but some interpret its focus as effectively aimed at China. Trump has publicly warned since his first term that Chinese-made equipment could be used to spy on U.S. citizens, companies and the government. At the time, the administration pushed to exclude Chinese companies from U.S. 5G infrastructure over national security and cyber-intelligence concerns, with Huawei (Huawei) and ZTE at the centre. Huawei was added to the U.S. Commerce Department's trade restriction list in 2019, and the U.S. Federal Communications Commission later designated both companies as national security threats.

The United States then also blocked carriers from using federal subsidies to buy Chinese-made equipment and introduced the so-called "rip and replace" programme to remove equipment already installed. This time, the focus of regulation has shifted from telecommunications networks to power infrastructure.

China's supply-chain influence in the power sector is also cited as background to the move. CyberScoop assessed that the executive order responded to concerns over Chinese-made equipment already inside U.S. energy infrastructure. In the same report, citing International Atomic Energy Agency data, it also noted that China accounts for 85 percent of solar supply-chain production capacity and is regarded as a major supplier in manufacturing power transformers.

The Energy Department must draw up implementation rules for the order within 120 days. It plans to consult other key ministries in the process. Attention is therefore expected to focus on which equipment and software are actually classified as banned, and how broadly foreign-made facilities installed across the existing power grid will be treated as targets for replacement.