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Donald Trump signals willingness to extend TikTok deadline as tariff tensions with China mount
US President Donald Trump signaled he may extend the deadline for TikTok’s U.S. divestment.
Image: Donald Trump. The video-sharing platform TikTok, owned by ByteDance., has faced pressure to sell its US operations after former US President Joe Biden signed a law last year requiring the divestment by January 19, 2025.
US President Donald Trump said he would consider extending the June 19 deadline for ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, to divest its U.S. operations, as negotiations between Washington and Beijing remain at an impasse over trade and national security concerns.
In an interview taped Friday at his Mar-a-Lago estate and aired Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Trump acknowledged that no final agreement had yet been reached but left the door open to a delay. “I would… I’d like to see it done,” he said, referring to a potential deal to transfer control of the popular video-sharing platform to American ownership.
The app, used by an estimated 170 million Americans, played a notable role in Trump’s 2024 re-election campaign, helping him gain traction with younger voters. “TikTok is - it's very interesting, but it will be protected,” he said, adding that he had a “sweet spot” for the platform.
A proposed plan that would spin off TikTok’s U.S. operations into a new company majority-owned by American investors was shelved after Beijing signaled it would not approve the transaction. The Chinese government’s stance came shortly after Trump imposed sweeping new tariffs on Chinese imports, raising levies on some goods to as much as 145 percent.
Reuters reported that democratic lawmakers have criticized the president’s handling of the issue, arguing that he lacks the legal authority to unilaterally extend the deadline for divestiture. They have also raised concerns that the proposed deal may not comply with existing national security legislation, it added.
Trump, who began his second term in January, has twice delayed the enforcement of a federal mandate requiring TikTok to cease U.S. operations absent a divestiture. Initially set for January 19, the deadline was first pushed to early April, and again to June 19.
In the NBC interview, Trump claimed that Chinese officials were eager to reach an accord, citing the economic strain imposed by the steep tariffs. While he expressed no intention to rescind the duties as a precondition for talks, he suggested they could be reduced as part of a more comprehensive agreement.
“At some point, I’m going to lower them,” he said, as per reports. “Because otherwise, you could never do business with them. And they want to do business very much.”
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