TikTok has gotten another 75-day extension that requires the sale of their US operations or face a country-wide ban. This was announced by President Donald Trump via Truth Social, wanting to avoid a “dark future” for the prominent app.
The platform boasts over 170 million users in the US but is still under fire due to national security concerns. While ByteDance (TikTok’s owner) has acknowledged the discussions, no agreement has been made. They have, however, noted that any deal requires Chinese regulatory approval.
With that, the US administration is actively seeking an American buyer for the app. It’s been said that there has been a potential deal that collapsed with the US’ announcement of tariffs on China. Needless to say, China has opposed this.
Potential buyers included Amazon, billionaire Frank McCourt with Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, Microsoft, Blackstone, Andreessen Horowitz, and Perplexity AI. President Trump has also mentioned four interested groups while Vice President JD Vance is leading the buyer search.
Notably, Trump suggested a potential trade-off. He bargained for China’s approval of the app’s sale for US tariff relief. Afterwards, he defended the tariffs saying that it’s a vital security tool.
Negotiations are still ongoing as the deadline continues to loom. With Trump having just threatened to raise China’s tariffs by 50 percent, we’ll have to wait to see how the country responds.
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