Trump’s TikTok Ban: US-China Escalation Goes Digital

... threats to US national security in the telecommunications sector. US law empowers the president to use economic and financial sanctions to address security threats that have become the subject of a state of emergency. Executive order 13873 has already ... ... against Chinese telecommunications companies through the US Department of Commerce. It is noteworthy that the bans on WeChat and TikTok were implemented by the president directly through separate decrees, and not through decisions of the executive branch....