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In the final days if his presidency, Donald Trump has issued an executive order that would ban transactions made with Chinese payment apps, including Alipay and WeChat Pay, both of which are commonly used by US fashion and beauty retailers catering to Chinese consumers.
The order is the latest in a series of late moves by the Trump administration to crack down on Beijing, and stokes US tensions with China before Joe Biden is inaugurated on January 20. In a message to Congress explaining the order President Trump said the “pace and pervasiveness” of the spread of Chinese software apps “continue to threaten the national security, foreign policy and economy” of the US.
The ban would apply to Alipay, CamScanner, QQ Wallet, SHAREit, Tencent QQ, VMate, WeChat Pay, and WPS Office, and would be administered by the commerce secretary. WeChat was already been targeted in a previous executive order concerning Chinese social media apps, which has yet to take effect because of court challenges.
