Taken on August 1, 2020. Photo by Solen Feyissa.Trump has extended the deadline for ByteDance to divest TikTok two times, but now, his advisors believe that the third time’s a charm.
Prior to imposing a steep tariff of 245% on China, Trump said that he’s open to reducing his tariffs if China agrees to divest TikTok and sell it to a US company. Before the last deadline extension, Trump said that “maybe I’ll give them a little reduction in tariffs or something to get it done you know, because every point in tariffs is worth more money than TikTok.”
The TikTok deal is on China’s table
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “The ball is in China’s court.” In her Tuesday statement, she said that China needs to make a deal with the United States. She added, “We don’t have to make a deal with them … China wants what we have … they need our money.”
Leavitt clarified that Vice President JD Vance is leading the TikTok deal negotiations and President Trump is personally involved in the ongoing discussions. Vance has been working on a deal along with other White House advisors for months now. The deal follows a bipartisan law that Congress passed in 2024, which requires ByteDance to divest the social media app or face a ban on the app in the United States.
According to Semafor, White House officials are optimistic about closing a final deal before the latest deadline of June 19. Another person familiar with the ongoing negotiations stated that the TikTok deal with ByteDance is still on the table for China’s acceptance.
A spokesperson from the Chinese embassy in Washington didn’t clearly say that Beijing will use the deal to negotiate tariff rates. He stated that China will deal with the situation based on its own laws and regulations.
Another spokesperson from ByteDance stated that the company has been negotiating a “potential solution” with the Trump administration. He said that, “there are key matters to be resolved … Any agreement will be subject to approval under Chinese law.”
American interest in TikTok is high
Recently, Trump stated that his administration is very close to having a deal with a group of “good people.” He gave more insight saying that there are multiple investors involved in the deal.
Many companies have placed bids to acquire TikTok, including tech giants like Amazon, Oracle, Microsoft, and AppLovin. Investor groups led by Frank McCourt, Steven Mnuchin, Bobby Kotick, and Jesse Tinsley, with support from famous figures like MrBeast and Roblox CEO David Baszucki have also made offers. Other interested parties include Rumble, Perplexity AI, and Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal.
On January 19, TikTok was effectively banned in the US. However, President Trump issued an order that extended the deadline by 90 days. He signed a second order, delaying enforcement of PAFACA or the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act and extended the TikTok ban deadline again by 75 days.
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