Senior US officials were considering plans to add the companies to a list of alleged Chinese military companies, which would have subjected them to a US investment ban.
The government of US President Donald Trump has ruled out plans to blacklist Chinese tech giants Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu, four people familiar with the matter told Reuters news agency, providing a brief postponement to major news Beijing amid broader Washington crackdown.
Senior government officials were considering plans to add the companies to a list of alleged Chinese military companies, which would have subjected them to a new US investment ban.
But Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who is widely seen as having a more peaceful stance on China, backed down, freezing plans, people said. Even so, the Trump administration plans to move forward this week with an offer to add nine more Chinese companies to the list, one person said.
The Treasury and State Departments and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The abrupt decision highlights the deep divisions within Washington in China’s politics, even as President Trump seeks to consolidate his harsh legacy for China and arrest President-elect Joe Biden in aggressive measures against the world’s second largest economy.
Last month, the White House added China’s largest chipmaker, SMIC, and oil giant CNOOC to the black list, as reported by Reuters for the first time. Trump also revealed an executive order in January banning transactions in the United States with eight Chinese apps, including Ant Group’s Alipay.
While Trump touted a trade deal signed between rival nations, relations between Washington and Beijing soured last year with China’s treatment of the deadly coronavirus and its crackdown on freedoms in Hong Kong.