President Donald J. Trump says TikTok must be sold to an American buyer, or it will be banned from operating in the United States. According to The Washington Post, ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, does not appear to be in a hurry to sell the popular social media platform as the clock ticks down, almost certainly due to influence from the Chinese government.
Following the U.S. imposition of significant tariffs on Chinese imports, which prompted a reciprocal response from China, experts now suggest that the Chinese government is “increasingly likely to take a hard-line approach” regarding selling TikTok’s U.S. operations to an American buyer. As such, despite a growing list of interested suitors, China reportedly hopes to negotiate a “grand deal” with the Trump administration. Any deal would require the U.S. to make trade and technology policy concessions.
On January 19, TikTok was removed from the U.S. App Store and Google Play due to a new law that labeled the app illegal over national security concerns. This decision followed ByteDance’s decision to disable the service in the U.S. in response to the law.
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After Trump indicated that he would sign an executive order on his first day in office to allow the social network to remain online, TikTok’s service was restored. However, the executive order requires ByteDance to transfer ownership of the app to a new owner in the coming weeks. Without an ownership change, the site would go offline, perhaps permanently.
The TikTok app is still unavailable on the App Store and Google Play.
Since then, discussions about purchasing TikTok have involved various figures, including Elon Musk and “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary. Trump has also suggested that the U.S. government might purchase TikTok through a sovereign wealth fund.
In the meantime, relations between China and the U.S. have become increasingly strained. In addition to the new tariffs — which could be the first of many between the countries — China is considering launching antitrust investigations into U.S.-based companies like Google and Apple. Furthermore, China has officially lodged complaints about the tariffs with the World Trade Organization (WTO), the intergovernmental organization that governs international trade.
There are 170 million TikTok users in the U.S., which is one reason why Trump is trying to “save TikTok.”
If China refuses to allow TikTok to be sold without economic concessions, will Trump back down? It’s possible, but we can expect many more fireworks before a resolution is reached.