Security News > 2021 > January > Trump Widens US Ban on Chinese Apps as His Term Nears End
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order banning transactions with eight Chinese apps including Alipay and WeChat Pay in an escalation of a trade war that has been unfolding through most of his term.
The orders follow two others Trump signed in August banning dealings with the popular video app TikTok as well as the main WeChat messaging app.
Trump's order cites unspecified concerns about the apps collecting Americans' personal and financial information and turning it over to China's communist government.
The order marks the Trump administration's latest attempt to hobble China, a rising economic superpower.
Over the past several years, it has lashed out at China with tariffs that have sometimes roiled the U.S. stock market, blocked mergers involving Chinese companies and stifled the business of Chinese firms like Huawei, a maker of phones and telecom equipment.
Senior Trump administration officials indicated they hadn't consulted with the president-elect's team before issuing the latest effort to ban more China apps.
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