Mike Peterson
President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order that will block any transactions between U.S. companies and the parent firms of TikTok and WeChat starting Sept. 20.
The order, which follows weeks of threats to ban the popular video apps from the U.S., will essentially force ByteDance and Tencent to divest from TikTok and WeChat, respectively, or stop operating those apps in the country.
In the order, the White House claims that the spread of Chinese-owned communications apps in the U.S. "continues to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States." The order then singles out TikTok and says "action must be taken to address" its threats.
INBOX: @realDonaldTrump has signed an executive order to ban TikTok in 45 days. pic.twitter.com/1zR4HgCPVj
— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) August 7, 2020
Citing the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the order will prohibit any transaction with ByteDance and Tencent in regards to communications apps, and would place sanctions on any company found to be violating the order. It will take effect in 45 days after its release or on Sept. 20, whichever comes first.
At present, the executive order doesn't apply to games. So, Epic Games isn't affected, as it is partially owned by Tencent.
Previously, Trump said TikTok would need to end its operations in the U.S. if an American company, such as Microsoft, did not purchase it.
Although Apple was said to have expressed interest in acquiring ByteDance, the Cupertino tech giant later refuted those rumors. Currently, Microsoft is reportedly in talks to buy TikTok — a move that Trump approved of Thursday.
According to The Verge, Trump also signed a parallel order applying the same ban on Tencent, the Chinese-based owners of WeChat.
The president has also stated that a significant portion of the money from the deal should go to the U.S. Treasury, a move that China and some experts are cautioning against.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
80 Comments
America’s “free market” and “democracy” values appear only valid when it benefits their own wallet. Fake values. I immigrated to California and back to Europe, and although the vast majority of people in CA have been amazing, the country itself is a complete corrupt mess.
Can Taktok sell to UK or Canadian Companies? I guess not. I believe trump think US is the only Allies country. Which to me, it is more like Axis.
I don’t like TakTok or Chicom. But I really hope they will court challenge Trump. Because I think they will mostly win.
Never forget that Trump at a previous face to face meeting with Xi of China, asked Xi's help in keeping him elected but Xi refused (see John Bolton's disclosure). These are now the payback against China. As a US commentator said, this is a classic mafia tactic. US's global reputation has just gone down another major tier.
Trump's probably down on TikTok because he hasn't figured out to work it.
Once he's figured out how to use/abuse it, he'll do anything to make sure it stays around.
President Trump had little understanding about what was important in the negotiations of trade agreements with China. Rather than focus on what was important, mainly protecting IP, and opening markets, he went off the rails and demanded China purchase more food from USA.
His bumbling negotiations made everything worse (as usual) and here we are, attempting to “look strong” on China to improve his election chances. He’s targeting TikTok specifically because young people (Americans) on TikTok hate his guts, and successfully interfered with a rally.
Bottom line, if TikTok was a real threat they could have audited the code, and not just banned it. Trump has no idea what he’s doing. If they disliked him before, now he’s pissed them off. Who’s pissed? Millions of young tech savvy Americans with to much free time on their hands (exacerbated by the coronavirus). This is going to blow up in his face... What a fool!