US President Donald Trump has signed a new executive order prohibiting transactions with Chinese companies that own apps operating in the US including Ant Group’s Alipay, Tencent’s WeChat Pay and QQ. The order states that transactions with the eight companies will be prohibited in 45 days.
The order targets these apps; SHAREit, Tencent QQ, WeChat Pay, QQ Wallet, WPS Office, Camscanner, VMate and Alipay.
“The pace and pervasiveness of the spread in the United States of certain connected mobile and desktop applications and other software developed or controlled by persons in the People’s Republic of China… continue to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States,” the order reads.
Read: President Trump To Ban TikTok In US Over Security Concerns
The US Department of Commerce has confirmed that they will be implementing the Executive Order’s directives “including identifying prohibited transactions.” According to Reuters, the Department of Commerce will do this before Trump leaves office on January 20, 2021.
The order comes following other Executive Orders signed by Trump seeking to ban transactions with ByteDance’s TikTok and Tencent’s WeChat. A judge blocked the WeChat ban in October while another offered a temporary injunction against the TikTok ban in December.
Chinese Families in the US will be most affected if the US goes ahead to ban the apps, as they use them to communicate and stay in touch with their families back at home.
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