US sets out procedure for barring threats to telecom networks

The US Commerce Department yesterday set out a procedure to protect US.telecommunications networks and their supply chains from national security threats, saying it would consider whether to bar transactions on a caseby-case basis. US President Donald Trump issued an executive order in May declaring a national emergency and barring US companies from using telecommunications equipment made by firms posing national security risks.

The Commerce Department said yesterday that Secretary Wilbur Ross had chosen to adopt a “case-by-case, fact-specific approach to determine which transactions must be prohibited, or which can be mitigated.” Trump’s order said Ross, in consultation with other US agencies, can bar transactions from firms connected to “a foreign adversary” that pose a national security risk, including those that “pose an undue risk of sabotage or subversion.”

The Commerce Department said yesterday that its proposed procedure is open to public comment before it becomes final, but that the determination of “foreign adversaries” is solely at Ross’s discretion. It also gives Ross the power to immediately prohibit or revise transactions that pose national security risks.