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ByteDance did not confirm rumors it would relocate its headquarters to London. /VCG
**Editor's note: **Bradley Blankenship is a Prague-based American journalist, political analyst and freelance reporter. The article reflects the author's opinions, not necessarily the views of CGTN.
On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump issued executive orders that intend to ban the social media app TikTok from the United States in 45 days if it wasn't sold to a U.S. buyer in that time frame. The justification behind this is flimsy – Washington believes that the app could allow China "to track the locations of Federal employees and contractors, build dossiers of personal information for blackmail, and conduct corporate espionage." There's no evidence of this given that the company has an American CEO and U.S.-based servers.
"We are shocked by the recent Executive Order, which was issued without any due process," TikTok said in a statement. "For nearly a year, we have sought to engage with the U.S. government in good faith to provide a constructive solution to the concerns that have been expressed. What we encountered instead was that the Administration paid no attention to facts, dictated terms of an agreement without going through standard legal processes, and tried to insert itself into negotiations between private businesses."
The company points out quite correctly that facts are not the concern of the administration. Maintaining control over users' data, ensuring that it falls under the "Five Eyes" intelligence system, and continuing aggressive actions against China are among the reasons for this latest action. However, generalized corruption and the fact that the U.S. government is a functional plutocracy with no serious concern for free markets is probably the main factor.
TikTok is an exponentially growing operation with a valuation in the tens of billions. Because of this, the acquisition of the company would spell massive profits for whichever U.S. tech firm pulls the trigger on a potential buy. The intervention of the U.S. government to force this sale in a kind of "shotgun wedding" is a massive blow to the so-called "rules-based international order," especially with regards to international business. Any international business already in or looking to enter the U.S. market should be worried about this development.
A security guard stands near a thermal camera at an office of ByteDance in Beijing, China, during the COVID-19 pandemic. /CFP
Chinese firms – ByteDance, Tencent, Huawei and others – have no doubt been Washington's main targets now as China's economic prowess becomes more pronounced in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. Next week, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will make rounds in Europe to no doubt pressure leaders to adopt America's hardline anti-China trade policies. This all comes as the European Union (EU) bloc itself has maintained steady pragmatism that Washington would like to chip away at.
However, it's not just China that's been caught in the snare of the "America First" policy of the Trump administration. For example, on June 23, the U.S. Trade Representative announced a list of 30 European products, amounting to approximately 3.1 billion U.S. dollars in annual goods, that could be subject to new tariffs after difficult trade negotiations regarding a 2004 aviation industry spat.
And perhaps more relevant to the area of big tech, the U.S. is also applying pressure against Europe in regards to a proposed "digital tax" for the EU bloc that the U.S. has categorized as "unfairly" targeting American firms. Many countries in the EU bloc have proposed at least some version of this tax with the bloc pushing forward on a unified system – something they are completely entitled to do. But many fear the consequences of provoking a trade war with the U.S., believing that the loss of revenue from trade could ultimately outweigh the benefits of the tax.
This isn't even to speak of blatant violations of the most elementary international law in regards to the criminal U.S. sanctions being imposed all over the world and U.S. interference in international trade. To give an example from just this Wednesday, the semi-official Iranian Fars News Agency reported that the U.S. Navy seized a ship at the port of Qingdao, China filled with medical supplies en route to Iran.
Other countries such as Syria, Venezuela, Lebanon and others are caught in the cross hairs of sanctions that, especially in the context of the present crisis, are descending international trade into total anarchy.
All of this shows that no one – close allies and perceived adversaries alike – can feel safe in this diplomatic climate and with its corresponding effects on commerce. Political pursuits (driven by private interests) will always take the cake over multilateral order to the Trump administration as American diplomatic institutions have proven to be the cudgel for U.S. firms. And for its part, U.S. tech has proven to be one of these powerful interests.
The lack of principles and rules is self-evident and large firms planning to set up shop in the U.S. must take heed of this latest action against TikTok. By attempting to fracture international commerce, influence international markets with unhinged "diplomacy" and force others to play by rules it doesn't obey itself, the U.S. is only hurting itself in terms of maintaining confidence with international business.
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