Deadline for TikTok sale extended by 75 days, as Trump vows to work with China

Thomson Reuters

· Posted: Apr 04, 2025 3:14 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 minutes ago

U.S. President Donald Trump extended a deadline by 75 days for Chinese technology company ByteDance to merchantability U.S. assets of fashionable abbreviated video app TikTok to a non-Chinese purchaser oregon look a prohibition that was expected to have taken effect successful January nether a 2024 law.

"The woody requires much enactment to guarantee each necessary approvals are signed," Trump said connected societal media, explaining why helium was extending the deadline helium acceptable successful January that was supposed to person expired connected Saturday. "We anticipation to continue working successful bully religion with China, who I recognize is not very happy astir our reciprocal tariffs."

China present faces a 54 per cent tariff connected goods imported into the U.S. aft Trump announced helium was hiking them by 34 per cent this week, prompting China to retaliate connected Friday. Trump has said helium would beryllium consenting to trim tariffs connected China to get a deal done with ByteDance to merchantability the app utilized by 170 million Americans.

Trump has said his medication was successful interaction with four different groups astir a prospective TikTok deal. He has not identified them.

A large stumbling artifact to immoderate woody for TikTok's U.S. business is Chinese authorities approval. China has not made a public committedness to let a sale, and Trump's comments suggested renewed Chinese opposition.

"We look guardant to moving with TikTok and China to close the deal," Trump wrote connected Friday. "We bash not privation TikTok to 'go dark,'" Trump added.

WATCH | Sask. sandwich influencer connected the interaction of a TikTok ban, up of January's little shutdown: 

Congress passed the measurement past twelvemonth with overwhelming bipartisan support, arsenic lawmakers cited the hazard of the Chinese government exploiting TikTok to spy connected Americans and transportation out covert power operations. Then president Joe Biden signed it into law.

Some lawmakers person said Trump indispensable enforce the law, which had required TikTok to halt operating by Jan. 19 unless ByteDance had completed a divestiture of the app's U.S. assets.

Trump began his 2nd word arsenic president connected Jan. 20 and opted not to enforce it.

The Justice Department earlier told Apple and Google that it would not enforce the law, which led them to reconstruct the app for new downloads.

The caller Trump bid volition acceptable a mid-June deadline for a deal.

The White House-led talks connected the aboriginal of TikTok are coalescing astir a program for the biggest non-Chinese investors in genitor institution ByteDance to summation their stakes and acquire the app's U.S. operations, Reuters has reported.

The program entails spinning disconnected a U.S. entity for TikTok and diluting Chinese ownership successful the caller concern to beneath the 20 per cent threshold required by U.S. law, rescuing the app from a looming U.S. ban, sources person told Reuters.

Jeff Yass's Susquehanna International Group and Bill Ford's General Atlantic, some of which are represented connected ByteDance's board, are starring discussions with the White House, Reuters has reported.

Walmart is besides considering joining a radical of investors successful a woody for TikTok, an ABC News newsman said on social media. The large retailer, which had expressed an interest in investing successful TikTok successful 2020, did not instantly respond to a Reuters petition for comment.

TikTok also did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.