Trump, "Ban on Transactions with TikTok and WeChat 45 Days Later" (Update)

Regulations Enforced Through Separate Administrative Orders
WeChat Also Sanctioned Amid TikTok Sale Deadline

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] On the 6th (local time), U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning transactions between Americans and the Chinese video-sharing app TikTok and the chat app WeChat. The ban will take effect 45 days after the executive order is enacted.

That evening, President Trump signed separate executive orders regulating transactions with TikTok and WeChat and their respective parent companies, ByteDance and Tencent. Despite the White House announcing that Microsoft would acquire TikTok's U.S. operations within 45 days, President Trump indicated that he would soon take specific actions against TikTok.

In the executive order, President Trump stated, "The threat posed by certain mobile apps like TikTok must be eliminated now."

President Trump expanded the regulation beyond TikTok to include WeChat. WeChat had also been mentioned as a target of U.S. government regulation.

President Trump criticized, "WeChat and TikTok censor content that the Chinese Communist Party deems politically sensitive and are used to spread disinformation for the Chinese Communist Party."

He also claimed, "WeChat collects personal information of Chinese people visiting the U.S. who enjoy the benefits of the free world, enabling the Chinese Communist Party to conduct censorship."