Trump administration scraps plans to ban Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu: sources

However, the US government is seeking to add around 10 other Chinese companies to the list this week, said one of the sources.

Earlier this month, Trump was considering to add tech giant Alibaba, messaging app WeChat’s owner Tencent, and search engine Baidu to a blacklist of firms allegedly owned or controlled by the Chinese military. The ban could prohibit Americans from investing in the Chinese firms included in the blacklist.

Prior to that, last month, the US government had banned US transactions with dozens of Chinese companies, including Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) and drone maker DJI.

Meanwhile, US-listed Chinese firms are facing the possibility of forced delistings from American exchanges due to a new legislation approved by the US House of Representatives and later signed by US President Donald Trump. Chinese firms will be delisted from the US stock market if they don’t allow US inspectors to review their auditors’ work for three consecutive years, according to the bill.