New York Stock Exchange to delist three companies
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) will de-list trade in the shares of China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom Hong Kong today, as was ordered by outgoing US President Donald Trump in November.
The order bars American investment in companies linked to the Chinese national security establishment. The NYSE attracted criticism from the executive branch when it changed course abruptly on Monday and refrained from de-listing for reasons still not clear. However, the exchange decided on Wednesday to continue the de-listing after the Treasury ruled that it is bound to do so in order to comply with the executive order.
The attempted cancellation was likely a bid to wait for the incoming Biden administration’s China policy to take shape. Still, the president-elect has signalled that he will not move quickly to reverse Trump’s tariffs and trade agreement with China, making it unclear whether Joe Biden will backpedal the executive order once in office.
Expect Beijing to protest the move, though the companies in question will still have access to international capital through Shanghai and Hong Kong’s financial institutions. Thus, significant retaliation against US companies is unlikely.
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