The social media platform, owned by leading Chinese technology firm Bytedance, was the target of legislation following an order by the US Congress that it be sold or face a permanent ban in the US market, where it has 170 million users. The original deadline was set for the end of February, although this was extended by 90 days following Donald Trump's inauguration. The US President has signed an executive order and given TikTok a 75-day extension in a move intended to provide his administration more time to negotiate a deal for US ownership.
The President held a White House meeting in early April 2025 to discuss potential offers with advisers and Vice President JD Vance. "We do not want TikTok to 'go dark, '" Trump wrote on Truth Social. "We look forward to working with TikTok and China to close the Deal." The platform is currently owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. ByteDance says it has talked with the US government, but no agreement has been reached. The reason the US is doing this is that former US President Joe Biden's administration had said that China could use TikTok as a tool for spying and political manipulation.
Congress passed a bipartisan law in 2024 giving ByteDance six months to sell its controlling stake in TikTok, or see the app blocked in the US. Opponents of a ban have cited freedom of speech as a reason for keeping the platform open. A recent Pew Research Centre survey found that about one-third of Americans supported a TikTok ban, down from 50% in March 2023. Roughly one-third said they would oppose a ban, and a similar percentage said they were unsure. According to the report, of those who said they supported banning the social media platform, about eight in 10 cited concerns over users’ data security being at risk as a significant factor in their decision.
The latest extension comes as the Trump administration tries to broker a deal to bring the social media platform under American ownership and keep the popular app running in the US. "The deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed," Trump wrote recently on his Truth Social platform.
According to reports, a deal for the sale of TikTok's US business was agreed upon but disintegrated after President Trump announced sweeping global tariffs on imports, including those from China. ByteDance representatives contacted the White House to inform them that China would no longer approve the deal unless negotiations on the tariffs could take place.
The Chinese embassy in Washington, DC said in a statement that it "opposed practices that violate the basic principles of the market economy.” China faces a 145% high tariff on goods imported into the US and has replied with 84% counter tariffs. These rates are effective as of 10 April 2025 at 1624 hrs. EDT.
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