Trump Says U.S.-China TikTok Negotiations Are About to Begin

Trump has extended the "sell or ban" deadline for TikTok three times. Now he said that the U.S. and China will start negotiations on this issue in two or three days. Previously, he revealed that "a group of very wealthy people" wants to acquire TikTok. However, the key issue remains whether China will approve the acquisition transaction at that time.

U.S. President Trump said on July 4 that he would begin negotiations with China on the TikTok deal starting from next Monday (July 7) or Tuesday. Trump said that the U.S. had "considerably" reached an agreement on the TikTok sale transaction. When asked if he was confident that China would approve the agreement, Trump said, "I don't have confidence, but I think it will. I think it's good for them. I think the agreement is good for China and good for us."

Trump made this statement to the media on Air Force One. Just last June, Trump had extended the "sell or ban" deadline for TikTok for the third time to September 17.

A week ago, when Trump spoke to Fox News, he also discussed the progress of the controversy surrounding TikTok, saying that he had "found a buyer." "A group of very wealthy people" proposed to acquire TikTok. The president also said that the deal might require "approval from the Chinese side." "By the way, TikTok already has a buyer," Trump said. "I think I probably need China's approval, and I think they will likely approve it."

Whether China approves becomes the key

Previously, AFP cited sources who said that potential solutions include existing American investors taking over ByteDance's shares in TikTok and forming an independent new company. In addition, Oracle and Blackstone may join as new investors, further diluting the equity of the Chinese parent company. However, the ownership of TikTok's core assets - the recommendation algorithm remains uncertain. Most of TikTok's U.S. user data is already hosted on Oracle's servers. The company's chairman Ellison has been a long-time ally of Trump.

In April 2024, then-U.S. President Biden signed a bill requiring TikTok's parent company ByteDance to sell TikTok to a non-Chinese company within 270 days, otherwise the app would be banned in the U.S. after January 19, 2025. On January 20, Trump took office immediately and signed an executive order giving TikTok a 75-day grace period, and then extended it for the second time to June 19 this year.

Trump said in April this year that if it were not for the dispute caused by Washington imposing tariffs on Beijing, China would have agreed to sell TikTok. ByteDance confirmed that it is negotiating with the U.S. government, stating that there are still key issues to be resolved, and any transaction must be "approved according to Chinese law."

Sources: Reuters, AFP

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1836818763494403/

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