Hong Kong (CNN) – As he approaches the final days of his administration, US President Donald Trump continues to pressure Chinese tech companies.
On Tuesday, Trump signed an executive order banning transactions with eight Chinese apps, including Antgroup’s Alipay. It will also affect “QQ Wallet” and “WeChat Pay” from “Tencent”, in addition to the “CamScanner”, “SHAREit”, “VMate” and “WPS Office” applications.
The order states that “the continuing activity of China and the ruling Communist Party of China to steal or otherwise obtain data from people from the United States shows that there is an intention to use the data in large quantities to promote China’s national economic and security agenda.”
It is unclear how effective the order will be, and it is set to take effect 45 days from now, long after Trump left office.
Trump’s previous orders against Chinese tech companies ran into several problems. For example, a federal judge previously denied Trump’s order to temporarily block the WeChat app from downloading in the United States. Multiple courts have also issued temporary injunctions against the administration’s attempts to ban the short video app, TikTok.
The Trump administration is escalating its pressure on Chinese companies in the few weeks before Biden takes office, as Washington last month imposed strict restrictions on chipmaker SMIC and other companies that had effectively isolated it from US suppliers and US technology.
Trump also recently signed new rules that could compel Chinese companies to cancel their listing on US stock exchanges if they fail to meet US auditing standards.
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