Senior U.S. officials have estimated plans to add the companies to a list of suspected Chinese military companies, which would subject them to a U.S. investment ban.
The government of US President Donald Trump has plans to blacklist Chinese technology giants Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu, four people familiar with the matter told Reuters news agency. They offer a brief extension to Beijing’s top corporations amid broader repression by Washington.
Senior government officials have devised plans to add the companies to a list of suspected Chinese military companies, which would subject them to a new US investment ban.
But Finance Minister Steven Mnuchin, widely regarded as a more demonic attitude towards China, pushed back and froze plans, the people said. Nevertheless, the Trump administration plans to continue this week in an effort to add as many as nine other Chinese companies to the list, one of the people said.
The Treasury and State Department and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The sudden decision brings a serious relief to Washington’s deep divisions over China’s policies, though outgoing President Trump wants to bolster his strong legacy of China and lock President-elect Joe Biden in aggressive measures against the world’s second-largest economy.
Last month, the White House added China’s leading record maker, SMIC, and oil giant CNOOC to the blacklist, as first reported by Reuters. Trump also issued an executive order in January banning U.S. transactions with eight Chinese apps, including Al Group, from Ant Group.
While Trump advocated a trade deal between the rival countries, relations between Washington and Beijing intensified last year over China’s handling of the deadly coronavirus and its inconsistency with Hong Kong.