NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; Mauritian volunteers fished dead eels from oily waters on Tuesday as they tried to clean up damage to the Indian Ocean island’s most pristine beaches after a Japanese bulk carrier leaked an estimated 1,000 tonnes of oil.



The ship, MV Wakashio, owned by Nagashiki Shipping and operated by Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd, struck a coral reef on Mauritius’ southeast coast on July 25 and began leaking oil last week, raising fears of a major ecological crisis.



<figure class="wp-block-embed-wordpress wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-cnbc-africa"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
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Activists told Reuters that dead eels were floating in the water and dead starfish were marked by the sticky black liquid. Crabs and seabirds are also dying.



“We don’t know what may happen further with the boat, it may crack more,” said clean up volunteer Yvan Luckhun.



The MV Wakashio is still holding some 2,000 tonnes of oil and it is expected to eventually break up, Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth said late on Monday, warning that the country must brace for the worst.



Tourism is a leading part of the Mauritius economy. The government, which declared an emergency on Friday due to the spill, is working with former colonial ruler France to try to remove the oil.



The spill has set back two decades worth of restoring the natural wildlife and plants in the lagoon, which started after the government banned sand harvesting in the area back in 2000, said Vikash Tatayah, conservation director at Mauritius Wildlife Foundation, a non-governmental organisation.



The fragmentation of the oil in the sea is expected to damage corals when the heavier particles in the oil settle on them, he said, adding that the steps taken by the government to prevent the disaster are also being scrutinised.



“There is some anger and some criticism from the civil society that the government may have taken too much time to respond,” Tatayah said. The ship was grounded for nearly two weeks before it started leaking oil.



There was no immediate comment from Mauritian government officials.Slideshow&nbsp;(5 Images)



The Wakashio passed an annual inspection in March without any problems, Japan’s ClassNK inspection body said.



Mitsui OSK Lines said in statement: “We will do our utmost towards resolving the situation quickly.” It did not provide any details. The company said it has sent six employees to the site and was considering sending more, along with transport supplies.



The International Maritime Organization said it had joined efforts to tackle the spill by providing technical advice and coordinating the response. U.N. agencies and other international groups were also mobilising environmental and oil spill experts.

Op-Ed: Tourism sector in Mauritius devastated by COVID-19

Sea life around Mauritius dying as Japanese ship oil spill spreads

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NEW YORK (Reuters) &#8211; Crude prices rose on Tuesday, underpinned by expectations of U.S. economic stimulus to support the world’s biggest oil consumer as well as a rebound in Asian demand as economies pick up



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="338" height="253" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/oil-oil-production-oil-pump-heating-oil-crude-oil-thumbnail.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-376014" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/oil-oil-production-oil-pump-heating-oil-crude-oil-thumbnail.jpg 338w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/oil-oil-production-oil-pump-heating-oil-crude-oil-thumbnail-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 338px) 100vw, 338px" /></figure>



Brent crude LCOc1 futures rose 22 cents to $45.21 a barrel by (1543 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures rose 32 cents to $42.26 a barrel.



On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted that top congressional Democrats want to meet him to discuss coronavirus-related economic relief after talks broke down last week.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="594" height="438" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-2.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-352574" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-2.jpg 594w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-2-300x221.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-2-80x60.jpg 80w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-2-570x420.jpg 570w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 594px) 100vw, 594px" /><figcaption>WASHINGTON, DC &#8211; FEBRUARY 16: U.S. President Donald Trump stands during a news conference announcing Alexander Acosta as the new Labor Secretary nominee in the East Room at the White House on February 16, 2017 in Washington, DC. The announcement comes a day after Andrew Puzder withdrew his nomination. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



“Talks of coronavirus-related economic relief in the U.S. help boost confidence among oil and gas firms, that have so far lacked the funds to invest this year, or were simply avoiding the risk in a depressed market,” said Bjornar Tonhaugen, head of oil markets at Rystad Energy.



Signs of recovering Asian oil demand also boosted prices.



On Sunday, Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said he expects oil demand to rebound in Asia as economies open up.



China’s factory deflation eased in July, driven by a rise in global oil prices and as industrial activity climbed back towards pre-coronavirus levels, adding to signs of recovery in the world’s second-largest economy.



Prices also found support from a rally in European stocks, which rose for a third straight session on Tuesday as automakers gained on firm Chinese sales data.



Meanwhile, European refinery crude intake in July rose 3.3% from June, Euroilstock data showed on Tuesday.



U.S. passenger airline traffic, which was slammed by the pandemic, was down 80% year on year in June, official figures showed, but was still nearly twice the levels in May.



Energy companies have begun taking back millions of barrels of oil from the U.S. government’s emergency stockpile after renting storage to manage a glut of crude this spring after energy demand collapsed during coronavirus lockdowns, a Department of Energy website showed on Monday.

rig-drilling-drilling-rig-oil

Oil gains on U.S. stimulus hopes and demand recovery

NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; Mauritian volunteers fished dead eels from oily waters on Tuesday as they tried to clean up damage to the Indian Ocean island’s most pristine beaches after a Japanese bulk carrier leaked an estimated 1,000 tonnes of oil.



The ship, MV Wakashio, owned by Nagashiki Shipping and operated by Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd, struck a coral reef on Mauritius’ southeast coast on July 25, and began leaking oil last week, raising fears of a major ecological crisis.



Activists told Reuters that dead eels were floating in the water and dead starfish washed in the sticky black liquid. Crabs and seabirds are also dying.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="960" height="540" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/1571595826001_6180184254001_6180184697001-vs.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-378691" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/1571595826001_6180184254001_6180184697001-vs.jpg 960w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/1571595826001_6180184254001_6180184697001-vs-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/1571595826001_6180184254001_6180184697001-vs-820x461.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/1571595826001_6180184254001_6180184697001-vs-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/1571595826001_6180184254001_6180184697001-vs-696x392.jpg 696w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/1571595826001_6180184254001_6180184697001-vs-600x338.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px" /><figcaption>Ameenah Gurib-Fakim on how the oil spill will impact the Mauritian economy</figcaption></figure>



“We don’t know what may happen further with the boat, it may crack more,” said clean up volunteer Yvan Luckhun.



The MV Wakashio is still holding some 2,000 tonnes of oil and it is expected to eventually break up, Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth said late on Monday, warning that the country must brace for the worst.



Tourism is a key part of the Mauritius economy and the government, which has declared a state of emergency due to the spill, is working with former colonial ruler France to try to remove the oil.



The spill has set back two decades worth of restoring the natural wildlife and plants in the lagoon, which started after the government banned sand harvesting in the area back in 2000, said Vikash Tatayah, conservation director at Mauritius Wildlife Foundation, a non-governmental organisation.Slideshow&nbsp;(5 Images)



The fragmentation of the oil in the sea is expected to damage corals when the heavier particles in the oil settle on them, he said, adding that the steps taken by the government to prevent the disaster are also being scrutinised.



“There is some anger and some criticism from the civil society that the government may have taken too much time to respond,” he said. The ship was grounded for nearly two weeks before it started leaking oil.



There was no immediate comment from Mauritian government officials.



Mitsui OSK Lines said in statement: “We will do our utmost towards resolving the situation quickly.” It did not provide any details.

Sea life around Mauritius dying as Japanese tanker oil spill spreads

(Reuters) &#8211; Leaders from major U.S. companies, including banks and tech giants, have formed a group aimed at increasing the hiring of individuals from minority communities in New York.



The New York Jobs CEO Council, which counts chief executives from 27 firms among its members, aims to hire 100,000 people from low-income Black, Latino and Asian communities by 2030.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1110" height="624" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/076-1110x624.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-378627" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/076-1110x624.jpg 1110w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/076-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/076-820x461.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/076-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/076-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/076-scaled.jpg 2048w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/076-696x392.jpg 696w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/076-1068x601.jpg 1068w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/076-1920x1080.jpg 1920w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/076-600x338.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1110px) 100vw, 1110px" /></figure>



Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase &amp; Co (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/JPM.N">JPM.N</a>), IBM (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/IBM.N">IBM.N</a>) CEO Arvind Krishna and Accenture (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/ACN.N">ACN.N</a>) CEO Julie Sweet will co-chair the group.



Other companies in the group include Amazon.com Inc (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/AMZN.O">AMZN.O</a>), Google, Microsoft Corp (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/MSFT.O">MSFT.O</a>) and Goldman Sachs (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/GS.N">GS.N</a>), according to a press statement.



U.S. companies have been under increasing pressure to do more to provide minority groups with access to opportunities in the wake of anti-racism protests sparked by the death of a 46-year-old African-American man, George Floyd. Floyd died in May after a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.



The protests also came as minorities were disproportionately represented in coronavirus deaths, and lower-income communities in the United States were hit hard economically.



“Today’s economic crisis is exacerbating economic and racial divides and exposing systemic barriers to opportunity”, Dimon said in an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal on Monday, adding that often high-achieving people across New York were not given opportunities at the city’s top employers.



“Young people in low-income and minority communities feel this failure the most. Unless we actively work to close the gap, COVID-19 will make matters worse,” said the opinion piece which was co-authored with Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, the chancellor of the City University of New York.

Big U.S. companies form group to boost hiring of minorities in New York

(Reuters) &#8211; Goods made in Hong Kong for export to the United States will need to be labelled as made in China after Sept. 25, according to a U.S. government notice posted on Tuesday.



The move follows China’s imposition of a national security law on Hong Kong and a U.S. decision to end the former British colony’s special status under U.S. law, escalating bilateral tensions that were already rising over trade war tariffs and the handling of the coronavirus outbreak.



The latest step will see Hong Kong companies subject to the same trade war tariffs levied on mainland Chinese exporters, should they make products subject to these duties, said the U.S. Customs and Border Protection notice.



It said that 45 days after its publication, goods “must be marked to indicate that their origin is ‘China’”.



The step was taken after the United States determined that Hong Kong is “no longer sufficiently autonomous to justify differential treatment in relation to China”.



Trump has made tough talk against China a feature of his campaign for re-election in November.



The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam and the city’s current and former police chiefs accused of curtailing political freedoms in the former British colony.



In retaliation, China imposed sanctions on 11 U.S. citizens including lawmakers from Trump’s Republican Party on Monday.



U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Monday that companies from China and other countries that do not comply with U.S. accounting standards will be delisted from U.S. stock exchanges from the end of 2021.

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Hong Kong goods for export to U.S. to be labelled made in China

HONG KONG (Reuters) &#8211; Shares of media group Next Digital Ltd (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/0282.HK">0282.HK</a>) hit their highest since Sept. 2008 on Tuesday, spurred by an online campaign to show support for its detained owner, Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai.



At their height, shares rose 668.6% to HK$1.96 on Tuesday. They retreated to around HK$1.50, but still led gains on the Hong Kong bourse as the third most actively traded stock. Since the close on Friday, they have gained more 2,078%.



Police on Monday detained Lai, along with other executives of his media company in the highest-profile arrest under a national security law imposed by Beijing, which critics say crushes freedoms in Hong Kong.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="678" height="381" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/101953190-Jimmy_Lai-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-378613" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/101953190-Jimmy_Lai-1.jpg 678w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/101953190-Jimmy_Lai-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/101953190-Jimmy_Lai-1-600x337.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px" /></figure>



Pro-democracy activists have started a campaign to encourage buyers for Next Digital shares and for the Apple Daily anti-government tabloid it publishes.



More than half a million copies of the paper were published on Tuesday, up from the usual 100,000. Buyers queued in the early hours and vendors had to re-order issues before the morning commute time.



One post on a local forum used by pro-democracy supporters said: “Freedom is priceless, use $$ to support Jimmy Lai.”



Next Digital’s market value has risen from HK$197.7 million ($25.42 million) early on Monday to HK$5.17 billion ($666.71 million).



The media group said in a bourse filing its operations have continued normally and it did not expect the arrests to impact its financial position.



Brokers said the surge was also driven by speculation Lai may sell the business.



“Speculation of sale of control and its low price level provided day traders a convenient excuse to bet on the stock,” a strategist from a local brokerage said, asking not to be named.



Another local media stock, Most Kwai Chung Ltd (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/1716.HK">1716.HK</a>) has also jumped 292% so far this week.

101953190-Jimmy_Lai

HK’s Next Digital hits 12-year high after campaign to support arrested owner

LONDON (Reuters) &#8211; The number of people in work in Britain fell by the most since 2009 in the three months through June as the coronavirus crisis took a heavy toll on the labour market, even with the government’s huge jobs protection scheme still in place.



Led by a record plunge in self-employed workers, there were 220,000 less people employed in the second quarter, the Office for National Statistics said.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="275" height="183" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/london.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-376521"/></figure>



Separate tax data for July showed that the number of staff on company payrolls had fallen by 730,000 since March, sounding the alarm about a potentially much bigger rise in joblessness.



Mounting job losses are expected as Britain winds down its job retention scheme which protects employees. It is due to close at the end of October.



“The cracks evident in the latest batch of labour market data are likely to soon turn into a chasm,” said Ruth Gregory, senior economist at Capital Economics.



British finance minister Rishi Sunak said the figures showed the government’s support programmes were working but job losses were inevitable.



“I’ve always been clear that we can’t protect every job, but &#8230; we have a clear plan to protect, support and create jobs to ensure that nobody is left without hope,” he said.



The unemployment rate unexpectedly held at 3.9% but that reflected an increase in people who had given up looking for work and who were therefore not considered to be unemployed, and people who said they were in work but were getting no pay.



Economists polled by Reuters had expected the unemployment rate to rise to 4.2%. Last week the Bank of England forecast the jobless rate would hit 7.5% at the end of this year.



“Government needs to step in and help those who are likely to lose their job retrain for new openings in different sectors,” KPMG economist Yael Selfin said.



The number of self-employed people fell by a record amount in the three months to June, led by older workers, while the number of employees rose &#8211; something the ONS said was partly accounted for by workers reclassifying themselves as employed.



The number of people claiming universal credit &#8211; a benefit for the unemployed and those on low pay &#8211; rose to 2.689 million in July, leaping by 117% from March.



Pay fell by the most in more than 10 years in the April-June period, down 1.2%, reflecting how workers on the job retention scheme receive 80% of their pay. Excluding bonuses, pay fell for the first time since records began in 2001.



However, there was a small increase in job vacancies in the three months to July.



“The increase was driven by small businesses (less than 50 employees), some of which reported taking on staff to meet coronavirus (COVID-19) guidelines,” the ONS said.

london

UK suffers biggest job losses since 2009 as COVID hits

(Reuters) &#8211; Shares of Eastman Kodak Co (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/KODK.N">KODK.N</a>) fell about 40% on Monday and were on track for their worst single-day decline after the U.S. government blocked a $765 million loan to the company, which was going to make drug ingredients for use in possible COVID-19 vaccines, because of “alleged wrongdoing” by executives.



The U.S. International Development Finance Corp (DFC) was slated to grant the loan to Eastman Kodak, which is looking to move deeper into the pharmaceutical arena.



But alarms were raised after senior Democratic lawmakers asked federal regulators to investigate securities transactions made by the company and its executives around the time it learned it could receive the government loan.



U.S. President Donald Trump said last week the government would investigate the circumstances surrounding the announcement of the loan.



“Recent allegations of wrongdoing raise serious concerns,” U.S. International Development Finance Corp (DFC) said late on Friday in a tweet.



The company’s shares have soared more than five-fold, with retail traders on the popular Robinhood trading app piling into the stock since DFC announced it would sign a letter of interest to provide the loan to the company.



More than 900 million shares have exchanged hands since the loan announcement, nearly 12 times the company’s outstanding shares.



Shares of the company were down 39.50% at $9 in pre-market trading on Monday.

wall street

Snap ! Kodak shares plunge after U.S. blocks $765 million loan deal

(Reuters) &#8211; The S&amp;P 500 and Dow rose on Monday, as investors rotated into value stocks from heavyweight tech-focused companies while awaiting word on progress in the fiscal support bill for the country’s battered economy.FILE PHOTO: The 11 Wall St. door of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is seen in New York City, New York, U.S., June 26, 2020. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid



The Nasdaq&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/markets/index?symbol=.IXIC">.IXIC</a>, which hit a record high every day of last week, was dragged lower by Microsoft Corp (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/MSFT.O">MSFT.O</a>), Amazon.com Inc (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/AMZN.O">AMZN.O</a>) and Facebook Inc (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/FB.O">FB.O</a>). The Dow index touched a more than five-month high, boosted by growth-linked industrial and financials stocks.



Bets on a potential coronavirus vaccine, historic fiscal and monetary support, and more recently, a better-than-expected second quarter earnings season have brought the S&amp;P 500 to within 1% of its February record high.



“Particularly for many people who missed the rally, (cyclicals) is the only place where you can still find value,” said Thomas Hayes, managing member at Great Hill Capital Llc in New York.



All three indexes opened higher after U.S. President Donald Trump signed executive orders that partly restored enhanced unemployment benefits after talks between the White House and top Democrats in Congress about fresh stimulus broke down last week.



U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, in an interview to CNBC on Monday, said the Trump administration and Congress could reach an agreement as soon as this week if Democrats are “reasonable.”



Value stocks, which tend to outperform growth coming out of a recession, have gotten a lift in recent days. The Russell 1000 value .RLV index rose 0.7% on Monday, while the Russell 1000 growth .RLG index slipped 0.3%.



“It’s going to take a while before we can see some real good growth, but the market seems to be betting otherwise,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.



At 13:03 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/markets/index?symbol=.DJI">.DJI</a>&nbsp;was up 272.55 points, or 0.99%, at 27,706.03, the S&amp;P 500&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/markets/index?symbol=.SPX">.SPX</a>&nbsp;was up 6.08 points, or 0.18%, at 3,357.36. The Nasdaq Composite&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/markets/index?symbol=.IXIC">.IXIC</a>&nbsp;was down 41.80 points, or 0.38%, at 10,969.18.



Energy .SPNY and industrials .SPLRCI, among the worst performers this year, led gains among major S&amp;P sectors. Technology .SPLRCT and communication services .SPLRCL fell about 0.8% each.



Among individual movers, Eastman Kodak Co (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/KODK.N">KODK.N</a>) sank 27.5% after its $765-million loan agreement with the U.S. government to produce pharmaceutical ingredients was put on hold due to “recent allegations of wrongdoing.”



Microsoft Corp (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/MSFT.O">MSFT.O</a>) fell 2.2% as sources said its bid to carve out parts of TikTok from its Chinese owner ByteDance will be a technically complex endeavor.



Mall owner Simon Property Group (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/SPG.N">SPG.N</a>) rose 7.3% after a report that it has been in talks with Amazon.com Inc (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/AMZN.O">AMZN.O</a>) about turning some of its department-store sites into Amazon fulfillment centers. The company’s quarterly results are due after markets close on Monday.



Nike (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/NKE.N">NKE.N</a>) surged 4.4% to a record high after footwear retailer Foot Locker (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/FL.N">FL.N</a>), to which Nike supplies, said same-store sales increased about 18% in the second quarter. Foot Locker shares rose 6.3%.



Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.60-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.66-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.



The S&amp;P index recorded 36 new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 95 new highs and nine new lows.

Wall Street mixed with stimulus in focus; Dow hits over five-month high

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) &#8211; U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday unveiled sweeping bans on U.S. transactions with China’s ByteDance, owner of video-sharing app TikTok, and Tencent (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/0700.HK">0700.HK</a>), operator of messenger app WeChat, in a major escalation of tensions with Beijing.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="594" height="438" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-352573" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-1.jpg 594w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-1-300x221.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-1-80x60.jpg 80w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-1-570x420.jpg 570w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 594px) 100vw, 594px" /><figcaption>WASHINGTON, DC &#8211; FEBRUARY 16: U.S. President Donald Trump stands during a news conference announcing Alexander Acosta as the new Labor Secretary nominee in the East Room at the White House on February 16, 2017 in Washington, DC. The announcement comes a day after Andrew Puzder withdrew his nomination. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



The executive orders, which go into effect in 45 days, come after the Trump administration said this week it was stepping up efforts to purge “untrusted” Chinese apps from U.S. digital networks and called TikTok and WeChat “significant threats.”



The hugely popular Tiktok has come under fire from U.S. lawmakers and the administration over national security concerns surrounding data collection, amid growing distrust between Washington and Beijing.



On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expanded efforts on a program dubbed “Clean Network” to prevent various Chinese apps as well as Chinese telecoms firms from accessing sensitive information on U.S. citizens and businesses.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">RELATED COVERAGE</h4>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-wechat-trump-factbox/factbox-wechat-owner-tencent-investments-in-the-united-states-and-beyond-idUSKCN2530K8">Factbox: WeChat owner Tencent investments in the United States and beyond</a></li></ul>



James Lewis, a technology expert with Washington-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the orders appeared coordinated with Pompeo’s announcement.



“This is the rupture in the digital world between the U.S. and China,” he said. “Absolutely, China will retaliate.”



“On TikTok, Trump is clearly putting pressure on Bytedance to close the deal,” Lewis said.



TikTok has 100 million users in the United States. While WeChat is not popular in the country, the app, which has over 1 billion users, is ubiquitous in China. It is also widely used by expat Chinese as a main platform for communications with family and friends as well as a medium for various other services such as games and e-commerce.



WeChat and TikTok were among 59 mostly Chinese apps outlawed in India in June for threatening the country’s “sovereignty and integrity.”



Operator Tencent is China’s second most-valuable company after Alibaba at $686 billion. It is also China’s biggest video game company and earlier this summer opened California-based studio.



Its shares fell nearly 10% in Hong Kong after Trump&#8217;s order. The yuan&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/currencies/quote?srcCurr=CNH&amp;destCurr=USD">CNH=</a>, which is sensitive to Sino-U.S. relations, lost 0.4%.



Tencent and ByteDance declined to comment.

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