US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that an agreement regarding the future of TikTok in the United States was almost completed, but China retracted its position due to the implementation of new American tariffs.
While speaking on Air Force One, Trump indicated that the shift in Beijing’s approach followed Washington imposing an additional 34 percent tariff on all imports from China last week.
“The report indicates that we had a deal, nearly finalized for TikTok, not a full deal, but quite close, and then China altered the agreement due to tariffs. If I reduced the tariffs a bit, they’d allow that deal in 15 minutes, which illustrates the influence of tariffs,” he remarked.
These remarks came on the heels of his decision on Friday to prolong the timeline for TikTok to secure a non-Chinese buyer by an additional 75 days. The popular video-sharing platform, boasting over 170 million users in the US, is at risk of being shut down under a legislation passed last year requiring its separation from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.
Trump has previously stated that his administration was negotiating a deal that would engage multiple investors to ensure TikTok’s continued operation within the country, although he has shared minimal specific details.
For its part, ByteDance has confirmed that talks with the US government are still ongoing but mentioned that “key matters” remain unresolved. The company disclosed that no agreement has been finalized and stressed that any arrangement would also need to be “approved under Chinese law.”
