US considering ban on Alibaba, other China firms
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday during a press conference that he was “looking into” whether Chinese technology giant Alibaba should be banned in the United States.
Trump has been piling pressure on Chinese-owned companies, such as by vowing to ban short-video app Tiktok from the United States.
The United States ordered Bytedance on Friday to divest the US operations of Tiktok within 90 days, the latest effort to ramp up pressure on the Chinese company over concerns about the safety of the personal data it handles.
In his Tiktok order, the US president said he had “credible evidence” to showcase that the China-based app was compromising security of American citizens. According to reports,
Microsoft has been in talks to buy part of Tiktok’s operations. Other companies such as Twitter have also been reported to be interested in a potential deal. The White House has also tried to aim at Tencent, the
Chinese company which owns messenger service Wechat, by asking Us-based companies to stop dealing with the app within a period of 45 days.
Trump, who has made changing the Us-china trade relationship a central theme of his presidency, has been sharply critical of China while also praising its purchases of agriculture products like soybeans and corn as part of a trade agreement reached late last year.
He has been extensively critical of China, especially more so after the Covid-19 pandemic spread across the world.
The White House did not provide any further details about Trump’s comment.