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Pompeo: Trump is considering sanctions on Chinese tech giants 'in the coming days'
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday that President Trump will shortly take measures against Chinese tech firms that the administration claims pose a national security danger to Americans.
President Trump said 'enough,' and we're going to repair it, Pompeo said in Fox News, Sunday Morning Futures. And then he'll take action in the coming days on a wide variety of national security threats posed by apps related to the Chinese Communist Party.
Comments are made on Trump's announcement on Friday that he was preparing to sign an executive order to bar TikTok, a Chinese-owned short-form video device, from working in the U.S.
On Sunday, Pompeo alleged that Chinese tech companies doing business in America were "directly supplying info" to the government in Beijing and that the activities were real national security concerns. Specifically, he called TikTok and WeChat, a Chinese-owned messaging and social media app.
There are real privacy problems for the American people. So for a long time, a long time, the United States has just decided, oh, yeah, if we're having fun with it, or if a corporation can make money out of it, we 're going to let it happen, Pompeo decided, adding it policymakers had been deliberating about the decision for months now.
TikTok, which has become increasingly common among teenagers in recent years, has received unwavering attention from the Trump administration and members of Congress are monitoring its partnership with ByteDance, a Chinese company. Lawmakers have voiced fear that American information is not safe in the possession of TikTok, despite Chinese legislation demanding release of confidential data at the request of the government.
In recent days, TikTok has vigorously opposed accusations surrounding the treatment of customer data, with the company's CEO issuing a statement rebuking rumors and misconceptions.
The business also sent a letter to the House Judiciary Committee last Wednesday to counter complaints regarding its data activities.
TikTok is not available in China, said the letter. We store U.S. user data in the U.S., back-up in Singapore, and strict employee access controls. We have never provided any U.S. user data to the Chinese Government, nor would we have done so if requested. Any claim to the contrary is false.
TikTok did not comment directly on Trump's stated plans to bar the use of the app in the U.S. Though TikTok 's U.S. General Manager, Vanessa Pappas, said in a Saturday video that the company was "here for the long run.
The company also highlighted the 1,000 people it hired in the U.S., noting that it plans to add another 10,000 employees in the country in the future.
Since Trump 's remarks on Friday, rumors emerged that Microsoft was in the process of purchasing a short-form video app that boasts over 100 million American users.
Asked about this prospect and how it will bring an end to the likelihood of Chinese infiltration, Pompeo assured Fox News that the administration must ensure that anything we have done is as close to zero danger to the American people.
Multiple GOP senators have expressed approval for the possibility of a U.S. corporation purchasing TikTok to escape a suspension. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said in a tweet on Sunday that a "trusted" U.S. company buying the app would be a positive and acceptable outcome.
