The United States Treasury Secretary has announced that Washington and Beijing have reached a “framework” agreement regarding the ownership of TikTok’s American operations.
According to Scott Bessent, this framework was established during trade negotiations held in Madrid, setting the stage for potential US ownership. He further indicated that US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to “finalize” the deal on Friday.
President Trump affirmed on Truth Social that the discussions had “gone very well.” China has also confirmed the existence of a framework agreement, while emphasizing that any final resolution would safeguard the interests of Chinese companies.
TikTok’s Chinese parent company is facing an impending deadline to secure a buyer for its US operations, or risk a shutdown and ban within the United States.
Bessent’s announcement of the “framework” deal coincided with the second day of US-China negotiations, aimed at de-escalating the ongoing trade war.
He stated that the threat of a US shutdown had prompted Chinese negotiators to concede on demands for reduced tariffs as part of any deal concerning the sale of TikTok’s US arm.
He further asserted that the agreed-upon commercial terms would adequately protect US national security interests.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, a member of the US delegation in Madrid, acknowledged that the agreement reached remains “subject to the leaders’ approval.” However, he added that his team was “not… in the business of having repetitive [ban] extensions.”
Li Chenggang, China’s lead trade negotiator, conveyed that his country would not compromise on its principles or the interests of Chinese companies in pursuit of a deal with the US. He indicated that China’s leadership would review any agreement before its finalization.
In January, the US Supreme Court upheld a law passed in April 2024, mandating the video-sharing app’s divestiture from its parent company ByteDance, or face a ban in the US.
The US Justice Department has characterized TikTok’s access to data on American users as “a national-security threat of immense depth and scale.”
ByteDance has consistently maintained the 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 temporarily ceased operations in January following the law’s initial implementation, before President Trump intervened with a 75-day postponement.
The deadline for a sale has been extended on three separate occasions, with the latest delay to the ban scheduled 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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