WASHINGTON – A Chinese company installed intelligence gathering equipment on cranes used at seaports across the US that could allow Beijing to spy on Americans and cripple key infrastructure, according to a new congressional report.
The Republican majorities on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and House Homeland Security Committee found that the Shanghai-based, state-owned ZPMC engineering company had pressured American port authorities to allow remote access to its cranes, “with a particular focus on those located on the West Coast.”
“If granted, this access could potentially be extended to other [People’s Republican of China] government entities, posing a significant risk due to the PRC’s national security laws that mandate cooperation with state intelligence agencies,” adds the report, the outcome of a yearlong investigation.
The devices found attached to the cranes include cellular modems that were “not requested by US ports or included in contracts … [and] constitute a significant backdoor security vulnerability that undermines the integrity of port operations,” the report said.
“These unknown modems were believed to be installed under the auspices of collecting usage data for the equipment,” the report said, citing contract documents and statements from port operators. “These modems – although not necessary for the operation of the cranes – created an obscure method to collect information, and bypass firewalls in a manner that could potentially disrupt port operations.”
Now, both committees want the Department of Homeland Security to “immediately issue guidance to all US ports to disassemble any connections of ZPMC cranes to cellular modems or any other method of connection to ZPMC,” the report said, adding that though those with existing contractional obligations to keep them in place would be exempt from any requirement.
ZPMC owns roughly 80% of cargo cranes at American ports – leaving the US maritime sector “dangerously reliant on equipment and technology produced, manufactured, assembled, or installed in the PRC” including “ship-to-shore cranes, container handling equipment, and various other critical maritime infrastructure components,” the committees added.
The use of Chinese-built infrastructure has long been a concern in the national security community, but has only made national headlines in recent years.
“This [ZPMC] dominance has been achieved through a complex system of state support, including financing from state banks, direct subsidies, preferential borrowing rates, state- backed fundraising, and other nonmarket advantages,” the report said – noting that there are “no domestic manufacturing alternatives” for cranes in the US.
To fix the problem, the Harris-Biden administration in February pledged to provide $20 billion to “strengthen maritime infrastructure cybersecurity, specifically with the goal of addressing software and hardware vulnerabilities in ZPMC cranes,” according to the report.
The White House also announced plans to “phase out Chinese-made port equipment and fully return crane making to the United States to deal with 200 Chinese-made cranes at U.S. ports and facilities,” it added.
“This bipartisan chorus of concern regarding PRC economic influence — especially regarding transportation infrastructure — highlights the level of concern that this issue has reached within the American policymaking community, ” the report said.
But the reports’ Republican authors called for more to be done to cull the American reliance on Beijing’s seaport technology, calling on the Department of Commerce to commission a study on “building a US crane manufacturing base” complete with plans to develop “the necessary expertise and market consumption.
They also pushed the department to analyze the US’ “manufacturing competitiveness globally – including port construction and shipbuilding” to help build the American industry and peel away at international reliance on the Chinese maritime infrastructure.
In the meantime, the committees pitched passing legislation that would allow US ports to receive waivers exempting them from “Buy America requirements for purchasing cranes from non-adversarial countries, using federal grant dollars” until the US can build up its port-crane industry.
