Trump Signs Executive Order To Protect US Networks From Foreign Spying
Update (1645ET): Confirming what we previewed earlier, in a move that is seen as aimed at keeping the Chinese company Huawei out of the US market, President Trump has declared a "national emergency" to protect U.S. communications networks giving the federal government broad powers to bar American companies from doing business with certain foreign suppliers.
The order authorizes the commerce secretary to block transactions involving communications technologies built by firms controlled by a foreign adversary that puts U.S. security at "unacceptable" risk — or poses a threat of espionage or sabotage to networks that underpin the day-to-day running of vital public services… which would include the Chinese firm Huawei.
As WaPo details, Trump's executive order instructs the commerce secretary to develop an enforcement regime and permits the secretary to name companies or technologies that could be barred, according to officials.
The order acknowledges that, although an open investment climate is generally positive, the United States needs to do more to protect the security of its networks.
The national emergency declaration comes a day after a congressional hearing in which senators from both parties joined administration officials in calling out the risks of doing business with a company like Huawei. They emphasized that the problem was less about the company than the authoritarian country whose system of laws, which lacks due process and transparency, it must obey.
"It's not about overseeing Huawei. It's about overseeing China," said Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee during the hearing on 5G security.
But, of course, "The executive order is company and country agnostic," replies a senior White House official when asked if the executive order targets Huawei and China (h/t @W7VOA)
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-05-15/latest-move-against-huawei-trump-order-new-restrictions-foreign-telecom-companies