Bloomberg reported on Saturday that the Biden administration is considering moves to restrict US investments in Chinese technology and companies as Washington continues to take measures to sanction Beijing amid soaring tensions.
One source told Bloomberg that the action could take the form of an executive order signed by President Biden in the coming months. One of the options being discussed would establish a system that would give the US government the authority to block investments outright.
Any action against US investments inside China would follow a pattern of increasing economic sanctions against Beijing that the US has implemented in recent years. The first major action was the tariffs imposed by President Trump, which have been maintained by the Biden administration.
One of the most significant actions taken by the US came earlier this year when President Biden signed a bill into law banning imports of goods wholly or partially sourced from China’s Xinjiang region over allegations of forced labor.
The US has also been restricting the exports of certain goods to China and sanctioning Chinese companies tied to the country’s military. Last week, the US tightened restrictions on the sale of advanced semiconductors to China and the administration is considering further action in that area.
The Bloomberg report said that the Biden administration is also considering taking action against TikTok, the video-sharing app that the Trump administration tried to ban over allegations that data collected by the app is accessible to the Chinese government. TikTok’s Beijing-based parent company Bytedance has said it has taken steps to protect users’ data.
The economic measures against Beijing come as US-China relations are at their lowest point in decades, and tensions continue to rise over Taiwan. US delegations have continued to visit Taiwan, and new major arms sales have been approved for the island despite objections from China.
Trump and Biden both found excellent and convincing reasons to justify WTO trade violations with respect to China. But it has been my experience that what goes around, comes around.
I had my China Mobile stock sold out from under me at a loss because of a presidential decree that Americans weren’t allowed to own stock in the company. I’m still contemplating a useless legal gesture. This comes down to whether a government employee gets to decide if you’re allowed to own any or all of your supposed property, and the answer as of now is yes they do, pursuant to which if a mob wanted to start stringing selected people up right now I personally don’t see that there’s enough law left to argue with them.