Modernizing Defense Acquisitions and Spurring Innovation in the Defense Industrial Base (Trump EO Tracker)

This order suspends country-specific ad valorem rates of duty enumerated in the executive order titled “Regulating Imports with a Reciprocal Tariff to Rectify Trade Practices that Contribute to Large and Persistent Annual United States Goods Trade Deficits” until July 9, 2025. Additionally, this order raises the additional rate of duty on Chinese imports from 84% to 125% effective April 10, 2025 and makes further adjustments to limit circumvention of tariffs.  

Reform the foreign defense sales system by:

Employees of the law firm Susman Godfrey LLP (Susman) will have any active security clearances suspended. Also, all government contractors are required, to the extent permitted by law, to disclose any business they do with Susman and whether that business is related to the subject of the government contract. Within 30 days of the date of the order, all agencies shall submit to the Director of OMB an assessment of contracts with Susman or with entities that do business with Susman (effective as of the date of the order) and any actions taken with respect to those contracts in accordance with the order. 

Reforms the Department of Defense’s acquisition processes by:

Directs the Attorney General to identify and act against state and local laws that burden domestic energy production and may be unconstitutional, preempted by federal law, or otherwise unlawful, particularly those tied to climate change, ESG policies, and carbon penalties.

Grants a two-year exemption from the EPA's updated Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) rule for certain stationary sources, citing the lack of commercially viable emissions-control technology needed to meet the rule’s 2027 compliance deadline. The order asserts that enforcing the rule as written would jeopardize grid reliability, threaten national security, and harm the coal sector and broader economy.

Declares coal essential to U.S. economic and national security, designates it as a critical mineral for energy purposes, and directs agencies to remove regulatory barriers, prioritize coal leasing on federal lands, and promote coal use and exports. It also calls for evaluating coal’s eligibility as a critical material for steel production, supports coal-powered AI data centers, and accelerates development of coal technologies.

Directs emergency action under section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act by streamlining and expediting the approval of orders allowing electric generation resources to operate at maximum capacity during times of anticipated grid failure. It also mandates the development of a national methodology to assess grid reserve margins and identify critical generation resources that must be retained or prevented from retiring or converting fuel sources if doing so would reduce grid reliability.