Trump EO Could Keep Some Gear Out of US Networks, Has Role for FCC
President Donald Trump Wednesday handed down a long-awaited executive order addressing use of technologies by foreign companies in U.S. communications networks (see 1812270037). The Commerce Department is to issue interim regulations in 150 days and will seek comment, administration officials told reporters. Speaking on condition they not be identified, they stressed that the order is “country agnostic” and doesn’t specifically address Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer Huawei or the Chinese government.
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Trump's been clear his administration "will do what it takes to keep America safe and prosperous, and to protect America from foreign adversaries who are actively and increasingly creating and exploiting vulnerabilities in information and communications technology infrastructure and services" in the country, said a statement from press secretary Sarah Sanders. The EO "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," the statement added.
The EO bars "certain transactions involving information and communications technology [ICT] or services." But first, the secretary of commerce, consulting with counterparts at the departments of Treasury, State, Defense, Justice and Homeland Security; the U.S. trade representative; director of national intelligence; administrator of general services; and the FCC chair must collaborate.
The EO targets any transaction that poses “an undue risk of sabotage to or subversion of the design, integrity, manufacturing, production, distribution, installation, operation, or maintenance of information and communications technology or services in the United States” or an “undue risk of catastrophic effects on the security or resiliency of United States critical infrastructure or the digital economy of the United States.” It seeks to prevent transactions that pose “an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States or the security and safety of United States persons.”
“Protecting America’s communications networks is vital to our national, economic, and personal security,” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said. “When it comes to our national security, we cannot afford to make risky choices and just hope for the best. We must have a clear-eyed view of the threats that we face and be prepared to do what is necessary to counter those threats. Today’s Executive Order does just that.”
The order “sends a clear message that the U.S. will do what it takes to secure our communications networks,” said Commissioner Brendan Carr.
Trump told Congress he had issued an order “declaring a national emergency to deal with the threat posed by the unrestricted acquisition or use in the United States of information and communications technology or services designed, developed, manufactured, or supplied by persons owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of foreign adversaries.”
House Commerce Committee ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., welcomed the EO, in an interview ahead of its issuance. “It's important” for Trump to issue the order, Walden said. “We clearly understand the risk to Americans from the theft of intellectual property, from cybersecurity threats.” Telecom “is the key to national security and we have to make sure that the systems in place are not vulnerable to attack or disruption or theft,” he said. “It's serious stuff.”
Huawei officials we spoke with Tuesday before Trump issued the EO said it could be a net positive depending on its language. If the order authorizes Commerce “to create an objective-based mechanism to systematically address the real cybersecurity risks that we all recognize are there” in the telecom sector, “that would be a very helpful thing,” the “kind of thing that will help make America safer,” said Huawei U.S. Chief Security Officer Andy Purdy. “It's very important to be able to understand what objective criteria are for assessing risks to networks and systems and for addressing supply chain risks.”
The Senate Judiciary Committee's Tuesday hearing on 5G security almost exclusively focused on Huawei and other Chinese telecom equipment manufacturers as potential threats to the U.S. (see 1905140079). It included “assumptions that are unfounded and unsubstantiated” regarding the Chinese government's role in Huawei operations, said the company's U.S. Head-Congressional, State and Local Government Affairs Don Morrissey. There was also “very little discussion about the fact that Huawei doesn't own networks” and a “lack of appreciation of where the focus of the ownership and thus the functionality of how you protect those networks,” he added.
Senate Judiciary members and witnesses showed a fundamental “lack of understanding about how an equipment vendor like us provides service after the products are delivered to a carrier,” Purdy said. “The carrier retains control over their networks and their data.” Unless Huawei has “explicit written permission from the customer each and every time, we don't touch the customer's network,” he said. “We don't maintain some ongoing way to have remote access to the network.”
“As 5G deployments accelerate” the order will “help provide certainty for service providers and other communications equipment vendors as purchasing decisions are being made,” said Telecommunications Industry Association Senior Vice President-Government Affairs Cinnamon Rogers in a statement.
“We appreciate the administration’s concerns and the process created through today’s executive order,” said Competitive Carriers Association President Steve Berry: “CCA members care deeply about national security.”