Donald Trump appears in the trade war that has launched against China with all weapons now falling to the table.

In the midst of increasingly aggressive financial measures, Washington is considering a new “weapon”: The dismissal of Chinese companies from US stock markets.

As the White House intensifies the imposition of mass tariffs on China, as part of its attempt to remodel the global trade system, government officials and supporters of the president seems to be increasingly turning to the prospect of deleting nearly 300 Chinese companies listed.

The Minister of Finance Scott Bessed He said that “everything is on the table” when he was asked about last week. Kevin Oliri of the “Shark Tank” and a staunch supporter of Trump, argued that such a measure would help exert pressure on China “to sit on the table” of the negotiations. Senator Rick Scott, a Republican from Florida, who has been anxious for the presence of Chinese companies on US stock markets for years, believes that Trump’s harsh attitude towards China as an opportunity to carry out a stricter control of these entities.

“US Capital Markets are the subject of envy around the world, providing unparalleled access to funding for companies internationally. However, this privilege is accompanied by responsibilities, the main of which is transparency and compliance with the rules of disclosure, “said the Republican Senator of Florida in a recent letter to the newly appointed Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. “It is alarming that Chinese companies continue to have access to US funds while refusing to comply with our rules.”

It remains unclear how seriously the idea is considering the idea. However, the fact that there is even thought the possibility of the deletion of Chinese companies underlines the extreme attitude of the US towards Beijing, as the two economic giants are immersed in a long and potentially harsh trade war. Her executives Wall Street They warn of the impact of duties on supply chains, investment and employment, while fears of recession remain.

“There is a little chance of being trapped in a duty war with China for a long time,” former SEC president Gary Gensler said in an interview. In 2022, Gensler helped achieve a historic deal with China to access Chinese audit companies listed in the US, accessed by Beijing for many years.

Jeremy Mark, a senior researcher at the Atlantic Council, said that the US “is considering all the ways they have to exert pressure on China and Chinese registrations on the US Stock Exchange are very important”.

Indeed, according to the US -China Economic and Security Committee, there were 286 Chinese companies listed on US stock markets on March 7, with a total of $ 1.1 trillion.

A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington told Politico that “as a matter of principle, China is steadily maintaining the position that the United States must adhere to international rules governing investment and trade, respect market laws and stop politicizing and politicizing them.”

“Understanding Chinese companies’ confidence to invest here does not benefit the US business environment itself,” Liu Pengwi spokesman said in an email on Tuesday. “The exclusion of Chinese enterprises and the Chinese market will ultimately hurt the US financial interests and their international credibility.”

The White House and the Securities and Exchange Commission (Sec) refused to comment, while the Treasury did not respond to a request.

If the US was finally deciding to remove Chinese companies from US stock markets, officials could take various ways. Most of the debate has focused on a 2020 law, which aimed to give US accounting supervisors the opportunity to freely inspect the controls of companies from China and Hong Kong listed in the US. By law, known as Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (HFCAA), companies whose financial documents cannot be fully controlled for two consecutive years, could be eliminated from the stock markets.

In February, Trump signed an executive order calling for his government to consider whether “adequate accounting standards were respected” by those companies.

The problem is that the law will probably take years to produce substantial results, and this is only if the regulators fail to secure the required access. This does not mean that there are no faster roads.

In a report on Monday, Jaret Siberg, chief executive at TD Cowen, wrote that the “fastest and easiest way” would be for Trump to issue a series of executive orders based on national security powers in order to ultimately demand the deletion of Chinese companies.

The government could also examine the ban on Variable Interest Entities (Vies), that is, the legal structure used by Chinese companies to offer shares in the US. Vies essentially give US investors only indirect exposure to the Chinese company itself. Trump’s executive mandate in February included a directive to revise this structure.

Whatever the way the government chooses, the decision can come at a particularly sensitive time. Markets have already been shaken by Trump’s chaotic trade war, and mass deletions of companies could cause even more shock to investors.

Goldman Sachs analysts calculated in their report this week that the exclusion of US investors from Chinese shares could lead to liquidation of about $ 800 billion.

“The likelihood of upset markets under current circumstances is significantly greater than when the deal with China has been negotiated for access to the audit records in 2022, especially because of the inadequate time for transition,” said Katrin Martin, director of Rock Creek Global Advisors.