On January 21, Executive Director of the Office of Information and Communications Technology and Services Elizabeth Cannon was pressured by “senior officials” to resign from her role. Her office is a subordinate of the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) within the United States Department of Commerce.
Cannon will still serve in her current position until February 20. One of her deputies was put on official leave the week prior to January 21.
Even before Cannon’s resignation, her influence within the agency was waning. Investigations had been “stalled,” and restrictions on Chinese route maker TP-Link, China Telecom, and China Unicom have not come into fruition. Bans on Chinese and Russian heavy trucks and buses, as well as Chinese drones, have not been implemented, with the latter being suggested by the Commerce Department, but shot down by the White House itself.
Her resignation comes weeks after Trump invited Chinese automakers to open up shop in the United States.
“If they want to come in and build a plant and hire you and hire your friends and your neighbors, that’s great, I love that,” Trump said. “Let China come in.”
Electric Vehicles
The Office of Information and Communications Technology and Services was established during Trump’s first term. Former President Joe Biden utilized it to prevent Chinese passenger vehicles from flooding the American market and stealing the data of consumers. The BIS also banned the transaction of vehicles with Russian and Chinese-integrated hardware and software, as well as the components sold individually.
