President Donald Trump has declared a national emergency to prevent the purchase and installation of foreign-made electrical hardware, primarily targeting Chinese suppliers, in a move to bolster the US power grid’s resilience amid rising geopolitical friction.
On 26 August 2026, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency over the security of the United States’ bulk-power system and ordered tighter controls on foreign-made electrical equipment that the White House says could create cyber or operational risks. The move bars the purchase or installation of covered hardware tied to foreign entities, with the administration arguing that the measure is intended to protect critical infrastructure and improve the resilience of the grid.
The executive order also gives the energy secretary wider powers over equipment already in use. According to the White House, that authority could include placing conditions on continued operation where risks are identified, a provision that raises the prospect of restrictions extending beyond new sales and into existing installations. The administration says the policy is aimed at closing supply-chain weaknesses that could threaten reliability.
The announcement closely resembles an order Trump signed in 2020, which also focused on foreign threats to the electricity network without naming China directly. This time, the White House has again avoided identifying a specific country, but the practical target is clear enough to industry observers because China is the dominant supplier in several of the affected categories, including transformers, inverters and battery storage systems.
The security case remains contested. A January review of 30 Chinese inverters by the US Department of Energy found no proof of malicious components, according to reporting cited in the original article. Yet US engineers had previously identified unexplained communication modules in imported solar inverters, raising concern that some devices could, in theory, be used to bypass security controls or be manipulated remotely. The tension between those findings helps explain why Washington is moving from inspection towards prohibition.
China’s scale in power-equipment manufacturing makes any such shift costly. Industry analysis cited by the original article said the country accounts for around 60% of global transformer production capacity, while Chinese government-linked reporting says the sector now exceeds 300 billion yuan in annual output. Moving procurement to American or European suppliers would likely increase costs and lengthen delivery times, according to the sector estimates quoted in the article, at a moment when electricity demand is being pushed higher by data centres, artificial intelligence and defence production.
The decision also comes amid worsening political friction. On the same day, the US Justice Department accused China of large-scale hacking, allegations Beijing rejected and turned back on Washington. A meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping is due at the end of September. Separately, the European Commission restricted the use of Chinese inverters in publicly funded energy projects in May, and the US telecoms regulator tightened import limits on similar equipment in July, suggesting the American move is part of a broader Western tightening on Chinese grid technology.
Disclaimer: This content is intended for informational purposes only. Readers are advised to exercise their own judgement, conduct due diligence, or consult a qualified expert before acting on any information provided.
