WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. State Department has submitted a proposal for the Trump administration to add China’s Ant Group to a trade blacklist, according to two people familiar with the matter, before the fintech arm of e-commerce giant Alibaba <9988.HK> is slated to go public.
It was not immediately clear when the U.S. government agencies that decide whether to add a company to the so-called Entity List would review the matter. But the move comes as China hardliners in the Trump administration are seeking to send a message to deter U.S. investors from taking part in the initial public offering, worth up to a record $35 billion.
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, Alexandra Alper, and Karen Freifeld; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
