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The United States Treasury Secretary has announced that Washington and Beijing have reached a “framework” agreement concerning the ownership of TikTok’s American operations.
According to Scott Bessent, this framework was established during trade negotiations in Madrid, setting the stage for potential US ownership. He further indicated that a final accord would be “completed” by US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday.
President Trump affirmed the positive trajectory of the talks via Truth Social, while Chinese authorities confirmed the framework agreement but emphasized that any final arrangement would not compromise the interests of Chinese companies.
The Chinese owner of TikTok faces an impending deadline to secure a buyer for its US operations, or risk a shutdown and ban within the United States.
Bessent’s disclosure of the “framework” deal coincided with the second day of US-China negotiations aimed at de-escalating the ongoing trade dispute.
He stated that the threat of a US shutdown of the social media platform had influenced Chinese negotiators to concede on demands for reduced tariffs as part of any agreement to divest TikTok’s US assets.
Reportedly, the agreed-upon commercial terms are designed to safeguard US national security interests.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, a member of the US delegation in Madrid, clarified that the agreement remains “subject to the leaders’ approval,” while asserting that his team is “not… in the business of having repetitive [ban] extensions.”
Li Chenggang, China’s chief trade negotiator, stated that his country would not reach an agreement with the US that undermines its principles or the interests of Chinese companies. He added that Chinese leadership would review any proposed deal before final approval.
In January, the US Supreme Court upheld a law passed in April 2024, mandating the sale of the video-sharing app’s US division by its parent company, ByteDance, or face a ban.
The US Justice Department has maintained that TikTok’s access to data on American users constitutes “a national-security threat of immense depth and scale.”
ByteDance has consistently asserted the full independence of its US operations and denied any data sharing with the Chinese government. The company has argued that a ban would infringe upon the free speech rights of its 170 million US users.
TikTok briefly went offline in January following the initial enforcement of the law, before President Trump intervened with a 75-day postponement.
The deadline for a sale has been extended three times since then, with the latest delay set to expire on September 17.
Several figures have previously been mentioned as potential buyers of the platform, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, YouTube personality MrBeast, and investor Frank McCourt.
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