Two influential US lawmakers, including Raja Krishnamurthy, have urged Google and Apple to remove TikTok from their app stores.

According to the bill signed by President Joe Biden in April, TikTok’s parent company, China’s ByteDance, must sell TikTok by January 19, under threat of US sanctions.

Jan Moolnar, chairman of the House Standing Committee on China Affairs (CCP), and senior member Krishnamurthy wrote a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and TikTok CEO Sho Chi-chou on Friday. The lawmakers have urged Cook and Pichai to be ready to remove TikTok from their Play Stores by January 19.

The statements by US lawmakers come as a federal appeals court has refused to interfere with a law passed by Congress. TikTok must sell its US operations to a local company by early January or face sanctions if it fails to do so.

The company had challenged the US government’s decision and asked for the decision to be suspended pending a final ruling from the Supreme Court. This was rejected by a federal appeals court.

TikTok and its parent company ByteDance may appeal the appeals court’s decision to the Supreme Court.