A TikTok deal may finally be happening
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said that the United States and China have reached a framework deal on TikTok. Speaking to reporters in Madrid after two days of talks with his Chinese counterparts, Bessent said, “It’s between two private parties, but the commercial terms have been agreed upon.” President Trump said in a Truth Social post that he will be speaking with Xi Jinping this Friday regarding the potential deal, among other things.
This breakthrough comes after the Trump administration extended the TikTok ban for a third time earlier this summer, giving the company until September 17 to undergo a sale or face a ban in the United States. The short-form video content app faced increasing scrutiny over national security concerns due to the Chinese ownership of its parent company, ByteDance.
President Trump issued an executive order in August 2020 banning the app in the United States unless it was divested from ByteDance, though courts halted enforcement of the order. In 2024 the United States Congress passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA) which was signed into law by then-President Biden. The Trump administration has repeatedly delayed the enforcement of that law in hopes a deal could be made for a US-based acquisition, leaving the app online in the meantime.
As it stands, this appears to be a framework for how TikTok could come under some level of US control, and not a signed final deal. Companies from Oracle to Microsoft have expressed interest in acquiring TikTok, and the president is on record as saying he would be OK if a "very American company" buys it. It's unclear if the September 17 deadline will be pushed once again, but US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Monday that another delay may be needed in order to get the deal signed.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/a-tiktok-deal-may-finally-be-happening-160448732.html?src=rss
