1、CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress INSIGHTINSIGHTi i Recent Presidential Trade Actions Affecting the U.S. Power Grid May 21, 2020 Introduction Over the past several weeks, the Trump Administration has taken actions to limit the use of foreign manufactured products in the U.S
2、. power grid. On May 1, 2020, the President declared a national emergency (E.O. 13920) invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to prohibit certain international transactions for bulk-power system electric equipment used to operate the national grid. On May 4, Secretary of Co
3、mmerce Wilbur Ross, announced a new investigation under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 into whether imports of certain large electrical transformers and their parts threaten national security. These actions may suggest a pattern, begun last year, of making use of executive national s
4、ecurity authorities to restrict imports of goods that may be used for critical infrastructure (e.g., telecommunications and electrical equipment). The U.S. Power Grid and National Security Issues The federal government recognizes the U.S. bulk-power system as critical infrastructure, whose “disrupti