President Trump has signed a new executive order banning transactions with the companies behind eight Chinese apps, including Ant Group’s Alipay and Tencent’s QQ and WeChat Pay. Transactions will be banned within 45 days. Reuters was the first to report the news.
The complete list of programs includes: Alipay, CamScanner, QQ Wallet, SHAREit, Tencent QQ, VMate, WeChat Pay and WPS Office.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross confirmed that the Department of Commerce “will begin implementing EO regulations, including identifying prohibited transactions.” Reuters reports that the Department of Commerce will do so before Trump leaves office on January 20, citing an unnamed official.
The new orders follow two earlier orders from August that have already tried to ban transactions with ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, and WeChat. However, a judge blocked the WeChat ban in September and again in October, while a judge granted a preliminary injunction to strike the TikTok ban in December.
If the US succeeds in banning these programs, it could be a big deal, especially for Chinese American families who use these programs to communicate online.
Updated January 5, 19:09 ET: Changes made to display the order being published.