Washington:
The future of TikTok in the United States seems secure, as US President Donald Trump said a deal with the short video app’s Chinese parent ByteDance to sell it would be struck before a deadline on Saturday. This came days after the US commander-in-chief on Wednesday declared that he would be willing to reduce tariffs on China to get a deal done with ByteDance to sell the short video app used by 170 million Americans.
“We have a lot of potential buyers,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One late on Sunday. “There’s tremendous interest in TikTok,” adding, “I’d like to see TikTok remain alive.”
News agency Reuters reported last week that White House-led talks among investors are coalescing around a plan for the biggest non-Chinese backers of ByteDance to increase their stakes and acquire the video app’s US operations.
TikTok Ban Deadline
After taking over the Oval Office in January, Trump has set the April 5 deadline for TikTok to find a non-Chinese buyer or face a US ban on national security grounds set to take effect that month under a 2024 law.
The law is the result of concern in Washington that TikTok’s ownership by ByteDance makes it beholden to the Chinese government and that Beijing could use the app to conduct influence operations against the United States and collect data on Americans.
Trump Tariff Plans
Earlier, Trump said he was willing to extend the April deadline if an agreement over the social media app was not reached. He also acknowledged the role China will play in getting any deal done, including giving its approval, saying “maybe I’ll give them a little reduction in tariffs or something to get it done,” Trump told reporters.
The US President’s comment suggests the sale of TikTok is a priority for his administration and important enough to use tariffs as a bargaining chip with Beijing.
TikTok did not immediately comment. However, China’s commerce ministry said its position on the tariff issue is consistent and that Beijing is willing to engage with Washington on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, during a regular news conference on Thursday.
In February and earlier this month, Trump added levies totaling 20 per cent to existing tariffs on all imports from China.
Getting China to agree to any deal to give up control of a business worth tens of billions of dollars has always been the biggest sticking point to getting any agreement finalized. Trump has used tariffs as a bargaining chip in the TikTok negotiations in the past.
TikTok’s Future In America
On January 20, Trump’s first day in office, he warned that he could impose tariffs on China if Beijing failed to approve a US deal with TikTok.
The future of the app used by nearly half of all Americans has been up in the air since a law, passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, required ByteDance to divest TikTok by January 19. The app briefly went dark in January after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the ban, but flickered back to life days later once Trump took office.
Trump quickly issued an executive order postponing enforcement of the law to April 5 and said last month that he could further extend that deadline to give himself time to shepherd a deal.
The White House has been involved to an unprecedented level in the closely watched deal talks, effectively playing the role of investment bank.