Trump signs an executive order banning transactions with Ant Group's Alipay, Tencent's WeChat Pay and QQ, and five other Chinese payment apps

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order banning transactions with eight Chinese software applications, including Ant Group's Alipay.

Reuters 2021-01-06 Alexandra Alper

Context & Ripple Effects

The order extends a policy arc that began with transaction restrictions aimed at ByteDance and WeChat and was followed by Commerce Department plans to curb U.S. downloads and business dealings involving TikTok and WeChat. It now reaches beyond social and messaging apps into payment services operated by Ant Group and Tencent.

Related coverage also framed WeChat as a communication and transaction cornerstone; bringing WeChat Pay and QQ into the order makes the earlier focus on app access a broader restriction on Chinese software-enabled commerce.

First-order effects

Ant Group's Alipay, Tencent's WeChat Pay and QQ, and five other named Chinese payment apps face a U.S. transaction ban under the new executive order.
U.S. businesses and individuals that transact through the targeted apps must contend with the order alongside the earlier WeChat and TikTok restrictions.

Second-order effects

Tencent's WeChat ecosystem faces pressure on both its communications presence and its payment function after Commerce's proposed limits on WeChat business transactions and the new payment-app order.
The action increases the compliance burden for U.S. counterparties dealing with Chinese consumer software, while the earlier restrictions on holdings in 31 Chinese companies show the policy reaching across both transactions and investment.

Third-order effects

If this sequence persists, U.S. China policy is shifting from targeting individual apps toward applying transaction and ownership restrictions across Chinese technology platforms and their commercial layers.

The trend: U.S. restrictions on Chinese technology are broadening from app distribution and messaging to payments and investment ties.

Discussion

@secretaryross Sec. Wilbur Ross on x
Today, President @realDonaldTrump signed an Executive Order (E.O.) titled, “Addressing the Threat Posed by Applications and other Software Developed or Controlled by Chinese Companies”: https://www.commerce.gov/... https://twitter.com/...
@commercegov U.S. Commerce Dept on x
NEWS: Statement from U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross on President Trump's Executive Order: “Addressing the Threat Posed by Applications and other Software Developed or Controlled by Chinese Companies”: https://www.commerce.gov/... https://twitter.com/...
@chriskeall Chris Keall on x
Trump's executive orders against tech companies have proved impotent (see TikTok, Twitter and Facebook), but for the record, his latest - and possibly last - is another stab against Tencent, a major investor in two NZ techs. See the earlier: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/... https:/…
@niubi Bill Bishop on x
President Trump signs an executive order banning transactions with Chinese payment platform Alipay and other Chinese apps https://www.wsj.com/... via @WSJ The order, which was signed on Tuesday, takes effect in 45 days, after Mr. Trump leaves office.
@mdudas @mdudas on x
this is absurd overreach by @realDonaldTrump banning american use of wechatpay and alipay? c'mon man https://www.reuters.com/...
@niubi Bill Bishop on x
“The order, first reported by Reuters, tasks the Commerce Department with defining which transactions will be banned under the directive and targets Tencent Holdings Ltd's QQ Wallet and WeChat”. Unlikely commerce will complete before Jan 20 https://twitter.com/...

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