Trump extends TikTok deadline by 75 day after China halts spinoff deal amid trade tensions
Amid the trade tensions with China, US President Donald Trump on Friday said his administration had been working on an agreement to “save TikTok” and announced plans to sign an executive order to keep the app operational for an additional 75 days. Beijing, meanwhile, decided to hold the spin off deal, stating, “we have always opposed practices that violate the basic principles of the market economy”. Here’s look at the top updates:
What Trump said on Tiktok deal?
Trump on Friday said in a Truth Social post, “My administration has been working very hard on a deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress. The deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed, which is why I am signing an Executive Order to keep TikTok up and running for an additional 75 days.”
Trump said he hoped talks with China would continue in good faith acknowledging that China was displeased with the US reciprocal tariffs. But went on to defend tariffs as necessity for fair trade
“We hope to continue working in good faith with China, who I understand are not very happy about our reciprocal tariffs (Necessary for fair and balanced trade between China and the USA!). This proves that tariffs are the most powerful economic tool and very important to our national security! We do not want TikTok to “go dark.” We look forward to working with TikTok and China to close the Deal. Thank you for your attention to this matter,” the post added.
What was the Tiktok spin-off deal all about?
A deal to spin off the US assets of TikTok was put on hold after China indicated it would not approve the deal following Trump’s tariffs announcement this week.
Two sources told Reuters that by Wednesday, a deal was mostly finalised to turn TikTok’s US operations into a new company based in the US, mostly owned and run by American investors. ByteDance would keep less than a 20% stake.
Why China decided to put brakes on the TikTok deal?
An AP reported said on Saturday, China has now decided to halt the deal. The Chinese Embassy in Washington said in a statement: “China has stated its position on TikTok on multiple occasions. China has always respected and protected the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises and opposed practices that violate the basic principles of the market economy.”
What ByteDance said about the deal between US and China deal?
Meanwhile, a ByteDance spokesperson said the TikTok parent company “has been in discussion with the US government regarding a potential solution for TikTok US.”
“(We are) still in talks with the US government, but no agreement has been reached, and the two sides still have differences on many key issues,” the company said in a statement on its official account on Chinese social media platform WeChat.
Last year, former President Joe Biden enacted a law that mandated TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, based in China, to sell off the app or face a ban in the United States due to national security concerns. While the law was initially scheduled to take effect in January, Trump announced he would postpone its enforcement in an effort to negotiate an agreement that would keep the app “alive.”
