President Donald Trump was reportedly just within reach of completing a TikTok deal that would have transferred the popular app to a U.S.-based company. But that came to a halt after he placed tariffs on China.
The deal to move TikTok under the control of primarily American investors while TikTok's parent company ByteDance remained involved, but at a smaller level, was reportedly completed Wednesday, two sources told Politico.
But after Trump implemented 34% tariffs on China, where ByteDance is headquartered, the company told the White House that the deal was no longer approved by Chinese officials.
"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," a spokesperson for the company said.
Trump revealed Friday that he planned to sign another executive order to extend the deadline by 75 days in a post to Truth Social. Although Trump said his administration has made "tremendous progress" in the deal, he said the deal required "more work."
"We hope to continue working in Good Faith with China, who I understand are not very happy about our Reciprocal Tariffs (Necessary for Fair and Balanced Trade between China and the U.S.A.!)," Trump wrote.
After Trump implemented tariffs on China as well as several other major trade partners with the United States, Beijing hit back with its own tariffs on American goods.
Trump's tariffs have faced criticism from both sides of the political spectrum. Critics assert that the tariffs will hurt American consumers, while supporters argue that tariffs will encourage more domestic production and sale of American-made products.
TikTok's operation in the U.S. had been facing a deadline of midnight April 5.
Originally published on Latin Times
