Ross (pictured) further said that no one may use WeChat from Sunday to transfer funds or process payments in the US.
The 12 November deadline for TikTok is a way to facilitate a possible transfer of an interest in TikTok’s US business, but Ross said that he is banning – from Sunday 20 September – “any provision of service to distribute or maintain the WeChat or TikTok mobile applications, constituent code, or application updates through an online mobile application store in the US”.
The Department of Commerce (DoC) warned that the 12 November deadline was to allow “the national security concerns posed by TikTok to be resolved”. It said: “If they are, the prohibitions in this order may be lifted.”
From Sunday for WeChat and from 12 November – nine days after the US presidential election – for TikTok a set of four crushing provisions will apply.
The US will ban:
Any provision of internet hosting services enabling the functioning or optimisation of the mobile application in the US;
Any provision of content delivery network services enabling the functioning or optimization of the mobile application in the US;
Any provision directly contracted or arranged internet transit or peering services enabling the function or optimisation of the mobile application within the US;
Any utilisation of the mobile application’s constituent code, functions, or services in the functioning of software or services developed and/or accessible within the US.
Ross said this morning: “Today’s actions prove once again that President Trump will do everything in his power to guarantee our national security and protect Americans from the threats of the Chinese Communist Party.”
He added: “At the president’s direction, we have taken significant action to combat China’s malicious collection of American citizens’ personal data, while promoting our national values, democratic rules-based norms, and aggressive enforcement of US laws and regulations.”
The DoC said: “While the threats posed by WeChat and TikTok are not identical, they are similar. Each collects vast swaths of data from users, including network activity, location data, and browsing and search histories.”
The DoC said: “Each is an active participant in China’s civil-military fusion and is subject to mandatory cooperation with the intelligence services of the CCP. This combination results in the use of WeChat and TikTok creating unacceptable risks to our national security.”
The DoC warned that more might follow. “Any other prohibitive transaction relating to WeChat or TikTok may be identified at a future date.”
And it warned against app companies creating lookalikes: “Should the US government determine that WeChat’s or TikTok’s illicit behaviour is being replicated by another app somehow outside the scope of these executive orders, the president has the authority to consider whether additional orders may be appropriate to address such activities.”
