Executive Order - 5-15-2019 Re: Information Technology

[jamshundred]

[Executive Order] By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code,



I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, find that foreign adversaries are increasingly creating and exploiting vulnerabilities in information and communications technology and services, which store and communicate vast amounts of sensitive information, facilitate the digital economy, and support critical infrastructure and vital emergency services, in order to commit malicious cyber-enabled actions, including economic and industrial espionage against the United States and its people.





I further find that 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 augments the ability of foreign adversaries to create and exploit vulnerabilities in information and communications technology or services, with potentially catastrophic effects, and thereby constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.



This threat exists both in the case of individual acquisitions or uses of such technology or services, and when acquisitions or uses of such technologies are considered as a class.



Although maintaining an open investment climate in information and communications technology, and in the United States economy more generally, is important for the overall growth and prosperity of the United States, such openness must be balanced by the need to protect our country against critical national security threats.



To deal with this threat, additional steps are required to protect the security, integrity, and reliability of information and communications technology and services provided and used in the United States. In light of these findings, I hereby declare a national emergency with respect to this threat.



Accordingly, it is hereby ordered as follows:



Section 1. Implementation.




(a) The following actions are prohibited: any acquisition, importation, transfer, installation, dealing in, or use of any information and communications technology or service (transaction) by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, where the transaction involves any property in which any foreign country or a national thereof has any interest (including through an interest in a contract for the provision of the technology or service), where the transaction was initiated, is pending, or will be completed after the date of this order, and where the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary), in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the United States Trade Representative, the Director of National Intelligence, the Administrator of General Services, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, and, as appropriate, the heads of other executive departments and agencies (agencies), has determined that:



(i) the transaction involves 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 a foreign adversary; and



(ii) the transaction:



(A) 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;



(B) poses an undue risk of catastrophic effects on the security or resiliency of United States critical infrastructure or the digital economy of the United States; or



(C) otherwise poses an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States or the security and safety of United States persons.



(b) The Secretary, in consultation with the heads of other agencies as appropriate, may at the Secretary’s discretion design or negotiate measures to mitigate concerns identified under section 1(a) of this order. Such measures may serve as a precondition to the approval of a transaction or of a class of transactions that would otherwise be prohibited pursuant to this order.



(c) The prohibitions in subsection (a) of this section apply except to the extent provided by statutes, or in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding any contract entered into or any license or permit granted prior to the effective date of this order.



Sec. 2. Authorities.



(a) The Secretary, in consultation with, or upon referral of a particular transaction from, the heads of other agencies as appropriate, is hereby authorized to take such actions, including directing the timing and manner of the cessation of transactions prohibited pursuant to section 1 of this order, adopting appropriate rules and regulations, and employing all other powers granted to the President by IEEPA, as may be necessary to implement this order. All agencies of the United States Government are directed to take all appropriate measures within their authority to carry out the provisions of this order.



(b) Rules and regulations issued pursuant to this order may, among other things, determine that particular countries or persons are foreign adversaries for the purposes of this order; identify persons owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of foreign adversaries for the purposes of this order; identify particular technologies or countries with respect to which transactions involving information and communications technology or services warrant particular scrutiny under the provisions of this order; establish procedures to license transactions otherwise prohibited pursuant to this order; establish criteria, consistent with section 1 of this order, by which particular technologies or particular participants in the market for information and communications technology or services may be recognized as categorically included in or as categorically excluded from the prohibitions established by this order; and identify a mechanism and relevant factors for the negotiation of agreements to mitigate concerns raised in connection with subsection 1(a) of this order. Within 150 days of the date of this order, the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the United States Trade Representative, the Director of National Intelligence, the Administrator of General Services, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and, as appropriate, the heads of other agencies, shall publish rules or regulations implementing the authorities delegated to the Secretary by this order.



(c) The Secretary may, consistent with applicable law, redelegate any of the authorities conferred on the Secretary pursuant to this section within the Department of Commerce.



Sec. 3. Definitions. For purposes of this order:



(a)the term “entity” means a partnership, association, trust, joint venture, corporation, group, subgroup, or other organization;



(b)the term “foreign adversary” means any foreign government or foreign non-government person engaged in a long‑term pattern or serious instances of conduct significantly adverse to the national security of the United States or security and safety of United States persons;



(c)the term “information and communications technology or services” means any hardware, software, or other product or service primarily intended to fulfill or enable the function of information or data processing, storage, retrieval, or communication by electronic means, including transmission, storage, and display;



(d)the term “person” means an individual or entity; and



(e)the term “United States person” means any United States citizen, permanent resident alien, entity organized under the laws of the United States or any jurisdiction within the United States (including foreign branches), or any person in the United States.



Sec. 4. Recurring and Final Reports to the Congress. The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of State, is hereby authorized to submit recurring and final reports to the Congress on the national emergency declared in this order, consistent with section 401(c) of the NEA (50 U.S.C. 1641(c)) and section 204(c) of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1703(c)).



Sec. 5. Assessments and Reports.



(a) The Director of National Intelligence shall continue to assess threats to the United States and its people from 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 a foreign adversary. The Director of National Intelligence shall produce periodic written assessments of these threats in consultation with the heads of relevant agencies, and shall provide these assessments to the President, the Secretary for the Secretary’s use in connection with his responsibilities pursuant to this order, and the heads of other agencies as appropriate. An initial assessment shall be completed within 40 days of the date of this order, and further assessments shall be completed at least annually, and shall include analysis of:



(i) threats enabled by information and communications technologies or services designed, developed, manufactured, or supplied by persons owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of a foreign adversary; and



(ii) threats to the United States Government, United States critical infrastructure, and United States entities from information and communications technologies or services designed, developed, manufactured, or supplied by persons owned by, controlled by, or subject to the influence of a foreign adversary.



(b)The Secretary of Homeland Security shall continue to assess and identify entities, hardware, software, and services that present vulnerabilities in the United States and that pose the greatest potential consequences to the national security of the United States.The Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with sector-specific agencies and coordinating councils as appropriate, shall produce a written assessment within 80 days of the date of this order, and annually thereafter.This assessment shall include an evaluation of hardware, software, or services that are relied upon by multiple information and communications technology or service providers, including the communication services relied upon by critical infrastructure entities identified pursuant to section 9 of Executive Order 13636 of February 12, 2013 (Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity).



(c) Within 1 year of the date of this order, and annually thereafter, the Secretary, in consultation as appropriate with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Homeland Security, Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, the United States Trade Representative, the Director of National Intelligence, and the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, shall assess and report to the President whether the actions taken by the Secretary pursuant to this order are sufficient and continue to be necessary to mitigate the risks identified in, and pursuant to, this order.



Sec. 6. General Provisions.



(a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:



(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or



(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.



(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.



(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.



DONALD J. TRUMP



THE WHITE HOUSE,May 15, 2019.

[jamshundred]

Additionally:  Reported by Reuters:


WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. Commerce Department said on Wednesday it is adding Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and 70 affiliates to its so-called “Entity List” – a move that bans the telecom giant from buying parts and components from U.S. companies without U.S. government approval.

U.S. officials told Reuters the decision would also make it difficult if not impossible for Huawei, the largest telecommunications equipment producer in the world, to sell some products because of its reliance on U.S. suppliers.

Under the order that will take effect in the coming days, Huawei will need a U.S. government license to buy American technology. Huawei did not immediately comment.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement President Donald Trump backed the decision that will “prevent American technology from being used by foreign owned entities in ways that potentially undermine U.S. national security or foreign policy interests.   ”The dramatic move comes as the Trump administration has aggressively lobbied other countries not to use Huawei equipment in next-generation 5G networks and comes just days after the Trump administration imposed new tariffs on Chinese goods amid an escalating trade war. 

The Commerce Department said the move comes after the U.S. Justice Department unsealed an indictment in January of Huawei and some entities that said the company had conspired to provide prohibited financial services to Iran. The department said it has a reasonable basis to conclude that Huawei is “engaged in activities that are contrary to U.S. national security or foreign policy interest.”



Huawei reported first-quarter revenue of $27 billion last month and said it had shipped 59 million smartphones in the first quarter.



In March 2016, the Commerce Department added ZTE Corp to the entity list over allegations it organized an elaborate scheme to hide its re-export of U.S. items to sanctioned countries in violation of U.S. law.



The restrictions prevented suppliers from providing ZTE with U.S. equipment, potentially freezing the Huawei rival’s supply chain, but they were short-lived. The U.S. suspended the restrictions in a series of temporary reprieves, allowing the company to maintain ties to U.S. suppliers until it agreed to a plea deal a year later.



In August, Trump signed a bill that barred the U.S. government itself from using equipment from Huawei and ZTE.



Senator Ben Sasse, a Republican, said “Huawei’s supply chain depends on contracts with American companies” and he urged the Commerce Department to look “at how we can effectively disrupt our adversary.”



Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and Karen Freifeld in New York; Editing by Chris Reese



Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[jamshundred]

(Reuters) […] Washington has also turned up the heat on other fronts, from targeting China’s tech firms such as Huawei and ZTE to sending warships through the strategic Taiwan Strait.



As the pressure mounts, Chinese leaders are pressing ahead to seal a deal and avoid a drawn-out trade war that risks stalling China’s long-term economic development, according to people familiar with their thinking.



But Beijing is mindful of a possible nationalistic backlash if it is seen as conceding too much to Washington.



Agreeing to U.S. demands to end subsidies and tax breaks for state-owned firms and strategic sectors would also overturn China’s state-led economic model and weaken the Communist Party’s grip on the economy, they said.



Trade analysts say China could reward other global companies at the expense of U.S. firms, replacing for example Boeing planes with Airbus jets where possible.



But there is considerable risk for China in transitioning its retaliation from tariffs to non-tariffs barriers on U.S. companies because doing so would intensify perceptions of an uneven playing field in China and incentivise some firms to shift sourcing or investment outside the country, they say.



Trump has called for U.S. firms to move production back to the United States.



“The medium- to long-term ramifications on supply chains are being deeply underestimated. I would be severely concerned if I was China,” Robert Lawrence, a nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, recently told journalists in Beijing, where a group from the think-tank met with senior Chinese officials. (more)

[jamshundred]

Blog Post - Eye Opener



Bob says:

May 16, 2019 at 10:23 am

Here’s a short list of the magnitude of the things China has done to take over the USA…bet you don’t know any of it….and sleepy Joe and his son are up to their you know what in it.



Chinese Supremacy!



This article, though aimed at a U.S. audience, gives a scary insight into China’s growing economic power.



A Little Known Reality:



In future China will employ millions of American workers and dominate thousands of small communities all over the United States.



Chinese acquisition of U.S. Businesses set a new all-time record last year, and it is on pace to shatter that record this year.



The Smithfield Foods acquisition is an example. Smithfield Foods is the largest pork producer and processor in the world.



It has facilities in 26 U.S. States and it employs tens of thousands of Americans.



It directly owns 460 farms and has contracts with approximately 2,100 others.



But now a Chinese company has bought it for $ 4.7 billion, and that means that the Chinese will now be the most important employer



in dozens of rural communities all over America.



Thanks in part to our massively bloated trade deficit with China, the Chinese have trillions of dollars to spend.



They are only just starting to exercise their economic muscle.



It is important to keep in mind that there is often not much of a difference between “the Chinese government” and “Chinese corporations”.



In 2011, 43 per cent of all profits in China were produced by companies where the Chinese government had a controlling interest in.



Last year a Chinese company spent $2.6 billion to purchase AMC entertainment – one of the largest movie theater chains in the United States.



Now that Chinese company controls more movie ticket sales than anyone else in the world.



But China is not just relying on acquisitions to expand its economic power.



“Economic beachheads” are being established all over America.



For example, Golden Dragon Precise Copper Tube Group, Inc. recently broke ground on a $100 million plant in Thomasville, Alabama.



Many of the residents of Thomasville, Alabama will be glad to have jobs,



but it will also become yet another community that will now be heavily dependent on communist China.



And guess where else Chinese companies are putting down roots?



Detroit. Chinese-owned companies are investing in American businesses and new vehicle technology,



selling everything from seat belts to shock absorbers in retail stores,



and hiring experienced engineers and designers in an effort to soak up the talent and expertise of domestic automakers and their suppliers.



If you recently purchased an “American-made” vehicle, there is a really good chance that it has a number of Chinese parts in it.



Industry analysts are hard-pressed to put a number on the Chinese suppliers operating in the United States.



China seems particularly interested in acquiring energy resources in the United States.



For example, China is actually mining for coal in the mountains of Tennessee.



Guizhou Gouchuang Energy Holdings Group spent $616 million dollars to acquire Triple H Coal Co. in Jacksboro,Tennessee.



At the time, that acquisition really didn’t make much news,



but now a group of conservatives in Tennessee is trying to stop the Chinese from blowing up their mountains and taking their coal.



And pretty soon China may want to build entire cities in the United States just like they have been doing in other countries.



Right now China is actually building a city larger than Manhattan just outside Minsk, the capital of Belarus.



Are you starting to get the picture? China is on the rise. If you doubt this, just read the following:



# When you total up all imports and exports, China is now the number one trading nation on the entire planet.



# Overall, the U.S. has run a trade deficit with China over the past decade that comes to more than 2.3 trillion dollars.



# China has more foreign currency reserves than anyone else on the planet.



# China now has the largest new car market in the entire world.



# China now produces more than twice as many automobiles as the United States does.



# After being bailed out by U.S. taxpayers, GM is involved in 11 joint ventures with Chinese companies.



# China is the number one gold producer in the world.



# The uniforms for the U.S. Olympic team were made in China.



# 85% of all artificial Christmas trees the world over are made in China.



# The new World Trade Center tower in New York is going to include glass imported from China.



# China now consumes more energy than the United States does.



# China is now in aggregate the leading manufacturer of goods in the entire world.



# China uses more cement than the rest of the world combined.



# China is now the number one producer of wind and solar power on the entire globe.



# China produces 3 times as much coal and 11 times as much steel as the United States does.



# China produces more than 90 percent of the global supply of rare earth elements.



# China is now the number one supplier of components that are critical to the operation of any national defense system.



# In published scientific research articles China is expected to become number one in the world very shortly.



And what we have seen so far may just be the tip of the iceberg.



For now, younger people, I will just leave you with one piece of advice – learn to speak Chinese.



You are going to need it!



Remember which Presidents gave China the keys to America