TikTok deal between the U.S government and the parent company, ByteDance.
The Chinese company, ByteDance has a fixed TikTok deadline, which is April 5 to sell the social media platform to a non-Chinese buyer. Otherwise, the social media app that is used daily by 170 million Americans will face a U.S. TikTok ban, which was supposed to happen at the beginning of the year.
The initial order to ban TikTok was proposed in 2024 by Joe Biden’s government. Back then, the order required ByteDance, the social media app’s platform to sell the app or face a U.S. ban, based on various national security concerns. The U.S. government worried about the opportunities that China might have if it collected data on American citizens.
So, according to his recent statement from Wednesday, he can also extend the TikTok deadline that is about to come, if a deal is not closed soon.
"Maybe I'll give them a little reduction in tariffs or something to get it done,", the U.S. President stated for Reuters.
It should be mentioned that earlier this month as well as in February, Donald Trump decided to increase the existing tariffs with 20% for all imports that come from China. We don’t know for sure if this recent decision was imposed in order to force ByteDance to agree with any deal possible.
The current TikTok situation is slightly concerning because the social media platform is due to face TikTok banned event again, after the recent controversies. In January, TikTok was banned for only a couple of hours, thanks to a new executive order from Donald Trump, which offered an extra 75 days for ByteDance to sell the app to a non-Chinese buyer.
It remains to be seen if ByteDance will close a TikTok deal soon, or if the social media app will face again a TikTok ban but this time for a longer period of time.
Stay tuned for more updates!
