Trump bars US transactions with eight Chinese apps including Alipay | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Friday
June 13, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 2025
Trump bars US transactions with eight Chinese apps including Alipay

Global Economy

Reuters
06 January, 2021, 09:05 am
Last modified: 06 January, 2021, 09:15 am

Related News

  • Trump's 'peacemaker' pledge takes big hit as Israel strikes Iran
  • Trump can keep National Guard deployed to Los Angeles for now, appeals court rules
  • Trump to attend security meeting on Friday after Israeli strikes on Iran
  • Alien Enemies Act: The wartime law Trump is using to justify deportations
  • Trump says again he’ll set unilateral tariffs in two weeks

Trump bars US transactions with eight Chinese apps including Alipay

The order argues that the United States must take "aggressive action" against developers of Chinese software applications to protect national security

Reuters
06 January, 2021, 09:05 am
Last modified: 06 January, 2021, 09:15 am
A logo of the electronic payment service Alipay that belongs to Ant Group Co Ltd is seen at a vending machine in Beijing, China December 30, 2020. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
A logo of the electronic payment service Alipay that belongs to Ant Group Co Ltd is seen at a vending machine in Beijing, China December 30, 2020. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order banning transactions with eight Chinese software applications, including Ant Group's Alipay, the White House said, escalating tensions with Beijing just over two weeks before President-elect Joe Biden takes office.

The move, first reported by Reuters, is aimed at curbing the threat to Americans posed by Chinese software applications, which have large user bases and access to sensitive data, a senior administration official told Reuters.

The order argues that the United States must take "aggressive action" against developers of Chinese software applications to protect national security.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

It tasks the Commerce Department with defining which transactions will be banned under the directive within 45 days and targets Tencent Holdings Ltd's QQ Wallet and WeChat Pay as well. The order also names CamScanner, SHAREit, Tencent QQ, VMate and WPS Office.

A US Tencent spokeswoman and the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately comment.

"By accessing personal electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, and computers, Chinese connected software applications can access and capture vast swaths of information from users, including sensitive personally identifiable information and private information," the executive order states.

Such data collection "would permit China to track the locations of federal employees and contractors, and build dossiers of personal information," the document adds.

The order aims to cement Trump's tough-on-China legacy before the Jan. 20 inauguration of Biden, a Democrat, who has said little about how he plans to address specific tech threats from China.

Biden could, however, revoke the order on the first day of his presidency, though his transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter.

The order will likely ratchet up tensions further between Washington and Beijing, which have been locked in a bitter dispute over the origins of the coronavirus and a Chinese crackdown on Hong Kong.

Despite the 45-day time line laid out by the order, the Commerce Department plans to act before Jan. 20 to identify prohibited transactions, another US official told Reuters.

The directive mirrors Trump executive orders signed in August directing Commerce to block some US transactions with WeChat and the Chinese-owned video app TikTok.

Had those orders gone into effect, they would have effectively banned the Chinese apps' use in the United States and barred Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc's app stores from offering them for download for new users.

The restrictions, however, were blocked by courts mainly on freedom of speech grounds. The White House is confident the new restrictions will stand up to judicial scrutiny, since applications like Alipay would struggle to bring a First Amendment case, the senior administration official told Reuters.

US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said in a statement that he supports Trump's "commitment to protecting the privacy and security of Americans from threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party."

Alipay, Ant Group's payment app, has been in Washington's cross hairs for months.

Reuters reported in November that the US State Department had submitted a proposal to add Ant Group to a trade blacklist in order to deter US investors from taking part in its lucrative initial public offering. But the Commerce Department, which oversees the blacklist, shelved the proposal after Alibaba Group Holding Inc President Michael Evans urged Ross to reject the bid.

Ant is China's dominant mobile payments company, offering loans, payments, insurance and asset management services via mobile apps. It is 33% owned by Alibaba and controlled by Alibaba founder Jack Ma, but is currently unavailable for American users.

Tuesday's move is the latest in a raft of tough new curbs on Chinese companies.

The White House unveiled an executive order in November banning US investment in alleged Chinese military companies including China's top chipmaker SMIC and oil giant CNOOC. Last month, the Commerce Department added dozens of Chinese companies, including Chinese drone manufacturer SZ DJI Technology Co Ltd, to a trade blacklist.

Top News / World+Biz

Donald Trump / Alipay / Trump Administartion / US Sanction / US Ban / Chinese companies / Chinese apps / chinese app

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Yunus-Tarique meeting: Jamaat says outcome positive for democracy, IAB says dispelled uncertainty from politics
    Yunus-Tarique meeting: Jamaat says outcome positive for democracy, IAB says dispelled uncertainty from politics
  • Taskeen Ahmed, DCCI president. Illustration: TBS
    'Will boost business confidence': DCCI welcomes agreement between Yunus-Tarique on election
  • Sketches: TBS
    How an escalating Iran-Israel conflict could impact Bangladesh

MOST VIEWED

  • Wreckage of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner showing part of its registration "VT-ANB" in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Amit Dave
    Air India Dreamliner crashes into Ahmedabad college hostel, kills over 290
  • File Photo of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus: UNB
    Prof Yunus to receive Harmony Award from King Charles today
  • Energy adviser Fouzul Kabir Khan with other government officials during a visit to Sylhet gas field on 13 June 2025. Photo: TBS
    I would disconnect gas supply to every home in Dhaka if I could: Energy adviser
  • Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur. TBS Sketch
    Bangladesh mulls settlements with tycoons over offshore wealth: BB governor tells FT
  • UCB declares no dividend for 2024 to comply with regulatory requirement
    UCB declares no dividend for 2024 to comply with regulatory requirement
  • UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus
    Disclosure of unconfirmed Yunus-Starmer meeting shows ‘diplomatic imprudence’: Analysts

Related News

  • Trump's 'peacemaker' pledge takes big hit as Israel strikes Iran
  • Trump can keep National Guard deployed to Los Angeles for now, appeals court rules
  • Trump to attend security meeting on Friday after Israeli strikes on Iran
  • Alien Enemies Act: The wartime law Trump is using to justify deportations
  • Trump says again he’ll set unilateral tariffs in two weeks

Features

Photos: Collected

Kurtis that make a great office wear

5h | Mode
Among pet birds in the country, lovebirds are the most common, and they are also the most numerous in the haat. Photo: Junayet Rashel

Where feathers meet fortune: How a small pigeon stall became Dhaka’s premiere bird market

2d | Panorama
Illustration: Duniya Jahan/ TBS

Forget Katy Perry, here’s Bangladesh’s Ruthba Yasmin shooting for the moon

3d | Features
File photo of Eid holidaymakers returning to the capital from their country homes/Rajib Dhar

Dhaka: The city we never want to return to, but always do

4d | Features

More Videos from TBS

Iran-Israel military power; who is ahead?

Iran-Israel military power; who is ahead?

1h | TBS World
Did the possibility of an Iran nuclear deal set back after the attack?

Did the possibility of an Iran nuclear deal set back after the attack?

3h | TBS World
IRGC chief Major General Hossein Salami killed in Israeli strike

IRGC chief Major General Hossein Salami killed in Israeli strike

4h | TBS World
'Historic' meeting between Yunus and Tarique underway in London

'Historic' meeting between Yunus and Tarique underway in London

7h | TBS Today
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net