Beijing (PingWest)—US President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order banning transactions with eight Chinese software applications, including Ant Group's Alipay and Tencent's WeChat Pay, Reuters reported. 

The executive order will bar any transactions with “persons that develop or control” the apps of Alipay, CamScanner, QQ Wallet, SHAREit, Tencent QQ, VMate, WeChat Pay, and WPS Office and their subsidiaries after a period of 45 days.

A senior administration official told Reuters that the move is aimed at curbing the threat to Americans posed by Chinese software applications, which have large user bases and access to sensitive data.

In the order, the president said that “the pace and pervasiveness of the spread in the United States of certain connected mobile and desktop applications and other software developed or controlled by persons in the People’s Republic of China” continued to threaten American national security. “At this time, action must be taken to address the threat posed by these Chinese connected software applications,” he wrote.

However, any transactions prohibited by the Trump administration may be challenged by the courts. Last fall, the Trump administration issued executive orders banning TikTok and WeChat, but both of these bans have been blocked by federal judges. Now, the two Chinese apps are still available in the US.