A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Monday rejected a Department of Justice (DOJ) request to immediately ban Apple from offering WeChat in the US.

In early August, President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing sanctions against Chinese mobile applications TikTok and WeChat, stating that the spread of Chinese mobile apps throughout the US “threaten[ed] the national security, foreign policy, and economy” of the country. The ban was to take effect on September 20.

In early September, US Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler of the District Court for the Northern District of California granted a preliminary injunction against Executive Order 13943 to prohibit transactions related to WeChat. The Trump administration appealed that ruling in early October. On Friday, the DOJ requested that Beeler reverse her decision preventing the ban, but she rejected the request.

The DOJ then requested that the Ninth Circuit allow the immediate ban. The appeals court denied the motion, stating that the appellants had not demonstrated they would suffer an “imminent, irreparable injury during the pendency of this appeal, which is being expedited.”

The case will be placed on the January 2021 calendar.