London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Jul 21, 2025

White House drafts executive order that could restrict global cloud computing companies

White House drafts executive order that could restrict global cloud computing companies

In an effort to prevent cyberattacks, the Commerce Department could impose restrictions on U.S cloud companies operating abroad, including in China.
The Trump administration is weighing an executive order that would let the government restrict the international operations of U.S. cloud computing companies such as Amazon and Microsoft in an effort to protect against foreign cyberattacks, people familiar with the matter tell POLITICO.

The executive order would allow the Commerce Department to prohibit U.S. cloud providers from partnering with foreign cloud companies that offer safe haven to hackers and give the Commerce secretary the ability to ban those foreign providers from operating in the U.S., four people told POLITICO.

The draft order is designed to deter malicious foreign actors from using cloud service providers to quickly and anonymously conduct cyberattacks, according to three people familiar with the order. All spoke anonymously because the order is not yet finalized.

It would also give the U.S. another mechanism to keep the heat on China, which U.S. officials have repeatedly designated an economic and security threat and which President Donald Trump has made a major priority in his administration.

Senior agency officials met to discuss the order Thursday and aim to have it on Trump’s desk before the end of the year, one U.S. official confirmed — an aggressive timeline that, if successful, would give U.S. companies limited time to push back.

But with fewer than 50 days until the White House changes occupants, the executive order would have to be expedited if it’s going to cross the president’s desk in time, and any agency rulemaking would likely extend into the incoming Biden administration, according to people familiar with the process.

President-elect Joe Biden has declared his own tough-on-China stance, but has also pledged to take a more multilateral approach than his predecessor.

One U.S. official told POLITICO that the government would not regularly curtail the overseas operations of American cloud computing companies, but instead use the executive order as another tool to address potential cybersecurity threats.

“This isn’t something that would be routinely used. It would be an extraordinary measure,” the official said.

“But it’s there also as a leverage point in bilateral relations,” the individual added. “To know that that is there when you’re dealing with a country and trying to get them to participate in a mutual legal assistance treaty or law enforcement efforts or information-sharing efforts, it’s a useful tool to have there.”

The order doesn’t just authorize restrictions. It would also add new reporting requirements that are likely to worry tech companies. It would require U.S. cloud service companies, which typically process or host data for third parties, to keep a log of the identities of foreign customers as a matter of course, the people said.

U.S. technology companies fear the proposed executive order, if applied broadly, could give the government new power to interfere in its business transactions overseas and complicate its relationships with many foreign governments.

The executive order, should it come to pass, could spell trouble for firms with existing business in China or those seeking to enter the highly lucrative market. The U.S. official said the executive order is not prompted by China alone, but that the government holds specific concerns about Chinese hackers and cloud companies.

“Getting China to take seriously and follow up, investigate, and prosecute their own cyber crime in their own borders is a continuously challenging issue,” the official said.

The eleventh-hour executive order is the latest in a series of Trump administration moves to box in Beijing’s ambitions to dominate the global technology sector and would be one of many policies Biden will soon be tasked with deciding whether to continue.

The Trump administration has singled out major Chinese technology firms and made it more difficult for U.S. technology firms to export equipment to them. The White House has led a global campaign to ban Chinese telecom giant Huawei from 5G networks and has more recently threatened to shut down the Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Defends Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Epstein Memo Backlash
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
King Charles Meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show
If the Department is Really About Justice: Ghislaine Maxwell Should Be Freed Now
NYC Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Antifada’ Remarks Spark National Debate on Political Language and Economic Policy
×