President Trump Signs Executive Order Banning Chinese Apps Including WeChat Pay, Alipay
Before U.S. President Donald Trump leaves office 14 days from now, he is taking another swing at China with his latest executive order. This new order bans transactions with eight Chinese software applications, which will heat Washington-Bejing tensions in the coming weeks. Moreover, it signals a stronger U.S. Government stance and more aggressive national security protection against Chinese companies and software.
Yesterday, Reuters reported that the executive order is “aimed at curbing the threat to Americans posed by Chinese software applications,” arguing that “the United States must take ‘aggressive action’ against developers of Chinese software applications to protect national security.” Thus, the Commerce Department is tasked with defining what transactions will be banned under the executive order within 45 days. It specifically targets the following apps based out of China:
- Alipay
- QQ Wallet
- WeChat Pay
- CamScanner
- SHAREit
- Tencent QQ
- VMate
- WPS Office
It is possible, however, that if the Commerce Department acts quick enough, we could see some retaliation from China in the coming weeks. Hopefully, it will not affect computer component prices, as we saw with the tariff exemption expiration the other day. In any case, let us know what you think of the executive order to block Chinese app transactions in the comments below
