US bans Chinese-made battery energy storage in new Trump directive

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Aug. 26, “Declaring a National Emergency to Secure the United States Bulk-Power System,” authorizing the Department of Energy to ban electric equipment from countries determined to pose a national security risk, specifically naming battery energy storage systems.

In the order, the White House described what it called an “unusual and extraordinary foreign threat” posed by foreign-made “bulk-power systems” that may present national security vulnerabilities.

The order generally bans the US purchase, importation or installation of certain “foreign-made, bulk-power system electrical equipment,” along with software, where it could pose cybersecurity or operational risks.

“Bulk-power systems” or “bulk-power system electric equipment” was further defined to include a significantly long list of items, specifying “items used in bulk-power system substations, control rooms, or power generating stations.” It applies generally to transmission networks of 69 kV and above, excluding local distribution networks.

The definition includes battery energy storage systems, along with other equipment such as transformers and grid-connected inverters.

The order also defines “foreign-produced” as “an article that is not manufactured, produced, or assembled in the United States.”

What’s next

The Energy Department has 120 days – until Christmas Eve – to implement the ban, meaning there are no immediate changes taking place.

Reactions

A reaction from market intelligence platform Shanghai Metals Market (SMM) to the move follows, noted, “…this policy is not yet a blanket ban on Chinese energy storage equipment; its actual enforcement will depend on the designation of Covered Foreign Entities, risk assessments, and the implementation rules to be issued over the next 120 days,” said the unauthored post.

“Given that the US domestic energy storage industry chain is still not enough to fully replace imports, the feasibility of a complete exclusion of Chinese supply chains in the short term is low. At this stage, the policy functions more as a market-entry deterrent, procurement constraint, and bargaining chip, and it is more likely to proceed by first restricting high-risk equipment, mandating localization revamps, and gradually replacing supply chains,” it continued.

This is a developing story.