After a 75-day pause, the enforcement of the TikTok ban law in the US was set to end this weekend in the US. However, on Friday, President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that he would sign an Executive Order to extend TikTok’s operation for an additional 75 days.
This week, Trump also revealed new tariffs on imports to the United States, including a significant 34% tax on products from China. He previously suggested that this tax rate could be lowered if China agreed to a deal concerning TikTok. Despite the looming deadline, it was Trump who decided to prolong the delay, thus preventing the TikTok app from facing another shutdown.
Despite several public offers for acquisition, ByteDance has not shown any intention to divest or reduce its stake as required by last year’s legislation. Following the announcement of the extended timeline, ByteDance issued its first public comment regarding ongoing negotiations, though it did not clarify the “key matters” that need to be resolved for a potential agreement.
Here is what the statement from TikTok says:
ByteDance has been in discussion with the U.S. Government regarding a potential solution for TikTok U.S. An agreement has not been executed. There are key matters to be resolved. Any agreement will be subject to approval under Chinese law.
According to a report from the Associated Press on Friday evening, citing unnamed sources, White House officials had been hopeful about finalizing arrangements this week until Chinese authorities indicated they would not approve without discussions on trade policies and tariff structures.
Currently, the list of potential buyers for TikTok reportedly includes Oracle, Blackstone, Frank McCourt, Amazon, Applovin, Perplexity, and others.
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