Biden amends Trump-era executive order prohibiting investments in certain Chinese companies

President Biden has issued an executive order amending a Trump-era order that prohibits investments in some Chinese companies.

"Today, President Biden signed an Executive Order (E.O.) to further address the ongoing national emergency declared in E.O. 13959 of November 12, 2020 with respect to the threat posed by the military-industrial complex of the People's Republic of China (PRC)," according to a White House fact sheet. 

"President Biden also expanded the scope of this national emergency by finding that the use of Chinese surveillance technology outside the PRC, as well as the development or use of Chinese surveillance technology to facilitate repression or serious human rights abuses, constitute unusual and extraordinary threats. This E.O. allows the United States to prohibit – in a targeted and scoped manner – U.S. investments in Chinese companies that undermine the security or democratic values of the United States and our allies," the White House said.

There are 59 entities listed in the order's annex that are subject to the order's prohibitions.

"We know for a fact that Wall Street is helping to finance the Chinese Communist Party's effort to weaken and ultimately replace American leadership," Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said in a statement. "The story of the past two decades has been America's unwillingness to confront Beijing's exploitation of our legal, political, and financial systems. While the administration updated the Trump-era policy in important ways, I am very concerned that President Biden's Treasury Department is too closely aligned with Wall Street to take the actions necessary to prevent American savings from being used to fund the Chinese Communist Party."