WASHINGTON (US) – In a proposal submitted to the Trump administration, the US State Department has suggested adding Ant Group of China to a trade blacklist before the financial technology company goes public.
It remains to be seen when the government agencies, which take a decision on whether to add a company to the Entity List, review the matter.
This move comes in the wake of hardliners in the administration seeking ways to send a message to American investors to desist from taking part in the initial public offering for Ant Group. The dual listing in Shanghai and Hong Kong is worth $35 billion.
Trump, who is trailing his opponent Joe Biden of the Democratic Party in the ratings, has made a hard stance towards China a crucial foreign policy platform. The latest move comes in the run-up to the polls.
The Alipay payment app is out of bounds for US users currently. But administration officials fear that Beijing can access sensitive banking data of future US customers.