Trump orders national emergency on information security that may lead to Huawei ban

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday declaring a national emergency barring the use of telecommunications equipment made by companies that are deemed a threat to national security, clearing the way for an outright ban on products made by Huawei.

Huawei’s P30 Pro smartphone / Photo source: Wikimedia

The Executive Order did not name China or Chinese companies specifically. However, separately, and soon after the order was signed, the US Commerce Department did just that.

The Commerce Department added Huawei and 70 affiliates were added to its “Entity List” after it concluded that the Chinese company was engaged in activities “contrary to US national security or foreign policy interests.” Inclusion in the list means purchasing Huawei equipment by a US company, person or government agency now requires a specific license “to export, reexport and/or transfer (in-country).”

The US government claims Huawei’s equipment poses a security risk because the company might acquiesce to demands from Beijing to allow access to networks and private users’ data – claims that the company and its chief executive, Ren Zhengfei, have repeatedly denied.

Meanwhile, Trump’s order says foreign adversaries are taking advantage of the US by exploiting vulnerabilities in the information and communications technology and services sector.

“This Executive Order declares a national emergency with respect to the threats against information and communications technology and services in the United States and delegates authority to the Secretary of Commerce to prohibit transactions posing an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States or the security and safety of United States persons,” the White House said in a statement.

Speaking on background to reporters, a senior Trump administration official said the executive order was “company and country agnostic.”

Huawei’s inclusion in the Commerce Department’s list was based upon US Justice Department allegations that Huawei violated US sanctions imposed on Iran and engaged in “obstruction of justice in connection with the investigation of those alleged violations of US sanctions,” the department said in a statement after Trump signed his order.

“This will prevent American technology from being used by foreign-owned entities in ways that potentially undermine US national security or foreign policy interests,” Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in the statement.

Photo credit: jevanto / 123RF

According to a senior administration official briefing reporters, the Commerce Department will spend the next 150 days writing the rules to back up the order, issued under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, and will cover any transaction pending or completed as of the executive order’s signing.

The administration official repeated that the order was aimed at “any transaction involving information and communications technology or services controlled by or subject to the jurisdiction of a foreign adversary,” declining to specify China.

Playing catch-up