Trump declares national emergency to ban some foreign grid equipment

President Trump has declared a national emergency seeking to block some foreign equipment from being used in the U.S. electric grid.

Trump, in a Wednesday executive order , said foreign supply of electric equipment “constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat” to national security.

He therefore issued the order restricting the purchase and installation of foreign-made components for the grid if doing so poses a risk to grid security or electricity supply.

Under the order, it will be up to Energy Secretary Chris Wright, in coordination with other officials, to determine whether a piece of equipment poses an issue.

The order could impact a wide range of equipment, including substations, transformers, batteries used for energy storage, generators, turbines, software and more.

It does not lay out specific threats or single out any country by name.

However, China is a major manufacturer of a lot of grid equipment , especially solar power and batteries. According to the International Energy Agency , China has 80 percent of the world’s lithium-ion battery supply chain production capacity and 85 percent of its solar production capacity.

The Trump administration has called for outpacing China technologically, including on issues such as AI. Separately, it has called for a broader buildout of U.S. energy production, though it has taken a hostile stance toward renewable energy.

Under the last Trump administration, the president put a similar order in place.

The new order comes amid several reported cyberattacks on U.S. water systems, which officials suspect have links to Iran, according to The New York Times .

On his first day in office, Trump declared a national energy emergency as part of an effort to bolster energy production.