THE New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is reconsidering its plan to allow three Chinese telecom giants to remain listed, the latest twist amid confusion over rules set by the Trump administration and tension within Washington on China policy.

If it does so, it would mark a second sudden U-turn. The bourse said late Monday it reversed a decision announced just last week to delist China Mobile Ltd., China Telecom Corp. and China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd. after consulting with regulatory authorities in connection with the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.

The about-face was due to ambiguity over an executive order issued by U.S. President Donald Trump barring investment in firms Washington says are tied to “the Chinese military” and whether the three firms were banned under the order, a source familiar with the matter said Tuesday.

However, it will now go ahead with the delistings, which were planned on or before Jan. 11, if it deems the companies are subject to the order, said the person.

Bloomberg earlier reported that the NYSE may flip back.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin called NYSE president Stacey Cunningham while on a trip to Egypt to object to the exchange operator’s reversal, a Trump administration official said. Mnuchin supports NYSE’s original plan to delist the companies, this official added.

Coming in the final days of the Trump presidency, the back and forth at the NYSE underscored the lack of clarity about, and the tensions around, the implementation and implications of the Trump administration’s ban on investment in 35 Chinese firms.

One China expert who has worked with U.S. Congress on delisting issues said the NYSE may have made the U-turn if they sought clarity from Treasury about the rules and been told they did not need to delist.

The flip-flopping at the NYSE also sowed confusion among investors.

Tariq Dennison, managing director at GFM Asset Management in Hong Kong, said he had almost completely unwound his positions in China Mobile shares in both Hong Kong and New York in anticipation of needing to find investments for U.S. clients with less exposure to risks associated with the investment ban.

The are also questions about how the order will be handled by U.S. President-elect Joe Biden who could revoke it easily. His transition team hasn’t commented on plans for the directive.

William Kirby, a Harvard Business School professor focused on China, said Monday that whereas the Trump administration has taken a “one-size-fits-all” approach to its regulation of Chinese firms, the Biden administration would likely have company-by-company reviews. (SD-Agencies)