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China's state-owned wagon manufacturer has expressed increased interest in building next-generation carriages in Washington, an advance that could put the transit agency in disagreement with Congress on cybersecurity issues and the economic conflicts of such an agreement.
Last month, the China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CCRC) paid a sponsored visit to companies interested in bidding for the Metro rail car contract, which could exceed US $ 1 billion for the next generation of railcars. 8000. According to the meeting documents, eleven CRRC employees traveled to the Metro Greenbelt Yard.
This visit, combined with CRRC's aggressive pressure for railcar contracts in other US markets, including New York, suggests that the company is likely to bid on the Metro contract. The possibility concerns some members of Metro's board of directors, experts and others who claim that China could use the vehicles to conduct the electronic espionage of the capital.
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Experts say these concerns are exacerbated by political tensions between Beijing and the West, as well as accusations that it has already used connected technology for malicious purposes.
In December, the United States and four of its allies blamed China for a campaign of 12 cyberattacks against 12 countries. Two Chinese hackers have been indicted by the Ministry of Justice, who claimed to have acted "in badociation" with the Chinese Ministry of Justice. State security.
If China were determined to attack Metro, I would still put my money on it, no matter who will eventually supply the cars.
Andrew Grotto
"When we hear from agency and federal security professionals, it's a topic that deserves to be considered and discussed," said Steve McMillin, a board member. Metro administration, which represents the federal government. "To the extent that we can solve this problem through the buying process, we should absolutely."
Since 2014, CRRC has won four major US contracts out of five for new cars, including public transit systems in Chicago, Boston and Los Angeles. Critics argue that the company was able to secure the deals by significantly undervaluing its competitors because of Beijing subsidies. In addition to Metro, the company plays a role in part of the US $ 4 billion contract with Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York for rail cars for the city's metro. A story in O'Dwyer's, a public relations publication, announced that CRRC's US division was paying $ 25,000 a month to a public affairs company as part of its bid to win a contract to build one of the top 1 000 cars the MTA needed.
The situation is complicated by the absence of US transit car manufacturers and the concern aroused by the economic precedent of allowing a state-subsidized manufacturer in the US market.
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Other wagon builders who attended the Metro event last month included Hyundai Rotem (South Korea) and Alstom (France), according to the meeting documents. CRRC has however defeated Hyundai in the past.
Kawasaki Rail Car, the Japanese manufacturer of Metro's 7000 series car, built in Nebraska, has not made an on-site visit to the 8000 Series project, which involves the creation of 800 new cars. Observers say this is likely due to the fact that the company is under contract with a contract for the construction of a first batch of new cars for the New York subway.
CRRC was initially on the verge of signing a US $ 3.2 billion contract – which would have been the largest transaction of the US company – but was unsuccessful in a joint bid with Bombardier Transportation, a Canadian media. A China-based railway expert said the decision reflected "political considerations", among other factors, according to a summary of his comments in the Beijing speech Global Times. An MTA spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the agency had considered cybersecurity and economic concerns regarding the CRRC.
Kawasaki, which delivered about three-quarters of Metro's 7000-series cars late last year, is expected to have delivered the 748 by the end of the year, according to Metro forecasts.
Neither Kawasaki nor the CRRC has referred applications to several employees for comment.
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The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority awarded CRRC a US $ 137 million contract in 2017 for the construction of 45 regional rail cars to be built in Mbadachusetts. SEPTA said the CRRC beat two other bidders based on two factors: technical evaluation and pricing.
"SEPTA determined that CRRC's proposal was the best value and the most beneficial to the Authority," said agency spokesman Andrew Busch in a statement. SEPTA said the next lowest bid was for Bombardier, worth nearly $ 172 million, followed by Hyundai Rotem, with nearly $ 185 million.
After cybersecurity issues were raised, Metro updated its solicitation to address some of these issues. He also extended the deadline for offers from April to January.
Last week, the transit agency introduced several new purchase requirements for the contract, for example requiring the manufacturer to disclose the country of origin of all components of the car, baderting that all the "back doors" software-related have been disabled and remove all ports from Otherwise, not be necessary for operations.
However, some members of Congress fear that the safeguarding measures are not sufficient and want the transit agency to obtain the approval of the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Transport before entering into such an agreement. In the meantime, they are wondering whether a federal law would be the next appropriate step.
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"The broader challenges posed by China's ambitions call the attention of policy makers, and I discuss with my colleagues how to respond appropriately to China's cyber-incursions and other malicious actions," he said. Senator Mark Warner in a statement.
Metro "needs to share a sense of urgency that I have not seen in his response so far, and I asked him to hold a more detailed information meeting for my office this week on the treatment of this issue ".
Warner said the problem is "bigger than just this one-time purchase".
Metro refused to say whether it would seek approval from DHS, DOD or DOT before awarding a contract, saying it could not disclose the "specific agreements" it had with the agencies for reasons of security. He also stated that it was incumbent on Congress to pbad legislation where he wanted to ban a foreign opponent from entering the car market.
Paul J Wiedefeld, Managing Director of Metro, said, "We believe that these approaches will impose appropriate controls that will limit the ability of any malicious actor to incorporate malicious software. [Metro] Wiedefeld responded to the concerns expressed by Senators Mike Crapo and Sherrod Brown, Presidents and senior members of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, which provides transit services. is within its supervisory jurisdiction.
Metro noted however that she was ill-equipped to solve one of the key issues raised by Senators: why not buy American or protect themselves from bids from entities under foreign government control?
"We would love the opportunity for a US company to participate in [Metro’s] car purchases, but unfortunately, there is currently no manufacturer of American-owned cars, "wrote Wiedefeld.
Metro has announced its intention to maintain a free and fair procurement process, adding that any action to protect against foreign interference in the process should take place without "unduly restricting competition".
Andrew Grotto, former senior director of cybersecurity policy at the National Security Council, said Metro deserved to be commended for the priority given to cybersecurity as an "explicit factor" in the decision of his contract .
He said that "it is an impressive list of requirements that, if applied, would certainly make it more difficult for China or any other opponent to attack Metro".
But if "China was determined to attack Metro, I would still put my money on it, no matter who will eventually provide the cars."
"This is one of the hard truths about the risks of digitizing our infrastructure," said Grotto.
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