WeChat is ‘like oxygen’ for Chinese usersĮven if the ban only affects WeChat in the United States, that would still be a big blow to a lot of Americans. It would “be cataclysmic for Apple’s business in China - without Weixin available on the iPhone, for example, sales would likely plummet,” Triolo wrote in a note earlier this month. (AAPL) made nearly $44 billion in revenue in greater China, an area that includes Hong Kong and Taiwan. (AAPL) to remove WeChat from its app store in China, which would be devastating. Paul Triolo, geotechnology head at Eurasia Group, said the order could also require Apple TikTok and WeChat may raise security concerns, but Trump's knee-jerk reaction isn't the way to deal with them (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) Mark Schiefelbein/AP President Donald Trump has ordered a sweeping but unspecified ban on dealings with the Chinese owners of the consumer apps TikTok and WeChat, although it remains unclear if he has the legal authority to actually ban the apps from the U.S. Icons for the smartphone apps TikTok and WeChat are seen on a smartphone screen in Beijing, Friday, Aug. Gibbs added that some companies have flagged that a ban limited to the United States could still affect their ability to accept payments using WeChat’s platform, because orders placed in China often use global IT systems that pass through the United States. “If you can’t accept those forms of payments, you can’t accept money.” Gibbs added that “almost everything” in China is purchased using a digital platform like WeChat Pay or the Alibaba-affiliated AliPay. “For US companies in China, losing the ability to use the WeChat platform could literally be an existential threat.” “We’re not reassured at all, and we’re not hearing from the government at all,” he said. The business organization has 3,000 members from 1,500 firms, including Fortune 500 companies and small- and medium-sized enterprises. The report cited one person as saying officials are still deliberating the scope of the ban, and that “the president could ultimately overrule anything they decide.”īut those reports are little comfort to many businesses, according to Gibbs, the AmCham Shanghai president. Washington officials are reportedly seeking to reassure US companies that they can still conduct business with the WeChat app in China, according to a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the matter. Starbucks, Walmart and Nike did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Walmart said last year that 30% of transactions in China came from its “Scan and Go” app, a program embedded within WeChat.ĭuring an earnings call in December, Nike president and CEO Mark Parker said the company was seeing “great momentum” with digital partners, such as “Instagram and Google and Tmall and WeChat.” The company uses the apps to build “relationships with the consumer,” Parker said. (NKE), for example, could be cut off from customers who use WeChat to order their products. The ubiquity of WeChat in China means the order could be a big problem for US companies. And, like many other people, Tencent executives as recently as last year were using the names interchangeably. WeChat and Weixin users can easily send messages and payments to each other.

Losing WeChat would be ‘an existential threat’ for US firms in China Companies use the platform to engage with customers, advertise goods, and most importantly, accept payments. That would be a huge problem for US firms operating in China, where WeChat has become essential for hundreds of millions of people who use it to message friends, pay for goods, hail rides, book train tickets, order food and more. The order clearly targets usage of the app stateside, but its broad wording also suggests that its effects “could go beyond the United States, and restrict all US entities whether they were in the United States or globally here in China,” said Ker Gibbs, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai. (TCEHY) uses data “in strict accordance with applicable laws and regulations.” It said previously that it was seeking clarification of the order and has emphasized that the international version of WeChat is separate from the Chinese app, which is also known as Weixin. (TCEHY) did not respond to a request for comment for this story. The Trump administration alleges that WeChat poses a national security risk because it collects a lot of user data that could be accessed by the Chinese Communist Party. Tencent just became Trump's new target in the tech war with China

Wechat banned in us