Trump Pushes to Save TikTok Amid Trade Tensions with China, Spin-Off Deal Stalled
Washington/Beijing: Amid escalating trade tensions with China, former US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that his administration is working on a deal to “save TikTok” and has decided to extend the deadline for the app’s operations in the US by 75 days through an Executive Order. The move comes after Beijing put the brakes on a near-final deal to spin off TikTok’s US assets into a new American-run entity.
In a Truth Social post, Trump said, “My administration has been working 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.”
He emphasized the importance of fair trade, defending recent reciprocal tariffs imposed on Chinese goods. “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!” he added.
The deal, now on hold, reportedly involved creating a new US-based company to manage TikTok’s American operations, with US investors holding a majority stake and ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent, retaining less than 20%. According to sources cited by Reuters, the plan was nearly finalized by Wednesday before China intervened.
On Saturday, Beijing formally objected to the spin-off proposal. In a statement, the Chinese Embassy in Washington said, “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.”
ByteDance confirmed ongoing discussions with the US government but acknowledged key differences remain. “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 stated via its official WeChat account.
The backdrop of this development includes a law enacted by President Joe Biden last year, requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok or face a US ban over national security concerns. Though the law was slated to take effect in January, Trump’s recent actions have delayed enforcement to allow further negotiations.
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