Trump signs executive order to ban U.S. transactions with WeChat Pay and 7 other Chinese apps

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order banning transactions with eight Chinese apps, including WeChat Pay and AliPay (via Reuters).

The order bans all U.S. transactions with the companies behind the apps, the full list of which includes Alipay, CamScanner, QQ Wallet, SHAREit, Tencent QQ, VMate, WeChat Pay, and WPS Office.

The order directs the Commerce Department to define which transactions will be prohibited under the directive within 45 days, but a US official said Reuters that the Commerce Department plans to act before Jan.20, when Trump steps down.

“By accessing personal electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, and computers, Chinese connected software applications can access and capture vast expanses of information from users, including sensitive personally identifiable information and private information,” declares the decree.

Such data collection “would allow China to track the locations of federal employees and contractors and build personal information records,” the document added.

The named apps are hugely popular with Chinese mobile device users, and if the order were successful, the bans would be a blow to Chinese Americans who use apps like WeChat to communicate.

The new orders come on top of two previous ones signed by Trump in August that tried to ban transactions with WeChat and TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance. The first order was blocked by a judge in September and then again in October, while a preliminary injunction granted by another judge in December prevented TikTok’s ban from continuing.

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