Washington no longer plans to ban Americans from investing in Chinese technology giants Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent, according to information published on Wednesday by
the Wall Street Journal
.
Read also: The disgrace of Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba and icon of Chinese capitalism
The US federal government was exploring the possibility of adding these groups to a Department of Defense blacklist that included companies with suspected ties to China's military, intelligence, or security apparatus.
American investors have until November to sell their shares in any company on this list, made up of about twenty names, including several Chinese telecom groups.
Alibaba and Baidu are listed on Nasdaq, New York, while Tencent's stock is traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Alibaba also has a secondary listing in Hong Kong.
Steven Munchin won his case
According to
the Wall Street Journal
, which quotes sources familiar with the matter, heated discussions have taken place in recent days between the Treasury Department on one side and the Department of Defense and the Pentagon on the other.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin opposed any ban on the three Chinese behemoths, fearing the adverse consequences for American investors.
The chief of the American diplomacy, Mike Pompeo, was him in favor of a harder line vis-a-vis these groups.
It was ultimately Steven Mnuchin who won the case.
The Wall Street Journal
specifies, however, that nine other Chinese companies will be added to the blacklist as well as a hundred subsidiaries of groups already on the list.
As the official end of his term as President of the United States approaches and faces a second impeachment process, Donald Trump remains belligerent towards Beijing.
The Republican billionaire signed a decree last week to ban, in the name of "national security", any transaction with eight Chinese payment services and applications, including Alipay, which belongs to Ant Group led by the founder of Alibaba , Jack Ma, and WeChat Pay, a subsidiary of Tencent .:
