Chinese tech giants face mounting pressure from the US government – will Baidu, Alibaba be next to get hit?
- Although Trump’s response was ambiguous, not indicating whether he was referring to Alibaba and Baidu, it signaled that the US backlash may be snowballing beyond TikTok and Tencent
- Two executive orders issued by Trump on August 6 stated that ‘any transaction’ related to ByteDance or WeChat would be banned after a 45 day grace period
First it was Huawei and TikTok. Now the Chinese triumvirate known as BAT – Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent – is being pulled into the decoupling drama playing out in Washington amid the escalating tech war between the world’s two largest economies.
When asked at a news conference on Saturday whether the administration was looking at banning any other China-owned companies in the US – with the reporter’s question specifically mentioning Alibaba and Baidu – Trump replied, “We’re looking at other things. Yes, we are.”
Although Trump’s response was ambiguous, not indicating whether his “yes, we are” referred to the two Chinese tech giants, it signaled that the backlash may be snowballing beyond TikTok and Tencent.
(Alibaba Group Holding is the owner of the South China Morning Post).
Tencent, the owner of super app WeChat, and TikTok owner ByteDance have already been hit with US sanctions. Two executive orders issued by Trump on August 6 stated that “any transaction” related to ByteDance or WeChat would be banned after a 45 day grace period.
The definition of “transaction” in the order is still pending clarification by the US Secretary of Commerce.