Declaring a national emergency over threats to the U.S. bulk power system (BPS), President Trump in an executive order (EO) on May 1 issued a sweeping ban on transactions by U.S. persons for electric equipment sourced abroad if the U.S. government determines they pose undue security risks. Because foreign adversaries are “increasingly creating and exploiting vulnerabilities” in the U.S. power system, which is critical infrastructure, the executive order deems the “unrestricted foreign supply” of BPS electric equipment as an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security, foreign policy, and the economy. And though the Trump administration recognizes that “maintaining an open investment climate” in BPS electric equipment is beneficial for “overall growth and prosperity” in the U.S., “such openness must be balanced with the need to protect our Nation against a critical national security threat,” the order reads. That’s why, beginning on May 1, the order bans the “acquisition, imports, transfers, or installation” of any risk-ridden BPS electric equipment by any person or property subject to U.S. jurisdiction of any…
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