According to senior administration officials, after months of negotiation, a deal was reached on Wednesday to transfer TikTok’s United States operations over to a company with majority American ownership.
ByteDance, the Trump Administration, Oracle, Blackstone, and Andreessen Horowitz, among others, negotiated the terms and reached an agreement with the investors.
It was planned that President Donald Trump would sign an executive directive to approve the deal in the coming week. This would trigger a 120-day period for finalizing the paperwork and financing.
ByteDance could have retained a minority stake in the new business below the 20% by Congress.
All that was left to do was wait for the Chinese government’s approval of the deal, something everyone involved in the negotiations had expected.
On Wednesday afternoon, Trump announced the tariffs.
ByteDance representatives called the White House on Thursday morning to inform them that the Chinese government will not approve the deal unless Trump’s tariffs are discussed.
The deal is still in limbo due to the escalating trade war between China and the U.S.
Trump announced on Friday that he will extend the deadline by which TikTok’s Chinese-owned parent, ByteDance, must either ban or sell off its app.
In a social media post, Trump announced that the previous deadline of April 5 would be extended by 75 days. This is the second time since he took office that he has extended the deadline.
Vice President JD Vance led the TikTok negotiation. Investors and the White House are both waiting for the deal to be renegotiated.
The revival of the economy appears to be dependent on what happens in trade negotiations between China and the United States.
