The U.S. government is contemplating a plan to restrict Americans from buying shares in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. BABA,
and Tencent Holdings Ltd. TCEHY,
according to the Wall Street Journal. The government has been increasingly cracking down on investment in companies it claims to have ties to the Chinese military. The WSJ report, citing multiple anonymous sources, said the U.S. government has been debating whether restrictions on investment in Alibaba and Tencent would have a far-reaching impact on markets, and remains uncertain whether the government will pass with these bans. . At the end of Tuesday, the New York Stock Exchange again resigned from its position on whether to withdraw three Chinese telecommunications companies — China Telecom Corp. Ltd. CHA,
China Mobile Ltd. CHL,
and China Unicom CHU,
– from its exchanges, as it seeks to comply with an executive order from President Trump that aims to ban U.S. investors from buying shares of companies with alleged links to the Chinese military. The New York Stock Exchange said last week that it would withdraw the names before reversing course earlier this week and then said it would return to its original plans to withdraw the shares. Alibaba’s U.S.-listed shares are down about 5% on Wednesday afternoon trading, while Tencent’s shares are down more than 3%.