US President Donald Trump on Sunday claimed that a deal over the future of TikTok in the United States was nearly finalised but China pulled back in response to new American tariffs.
Speaking aboard Air Force One, Trump said Beijing's change of stance came after Washington slapped an additional 34 per cent tariff on all Chinese imports last week.
"The report is that we had a deal, pretty much for TikTok, not a deal, but pretty close, and then China changed the deal because of tariffs. If I gave a little cut in tariffs, they'd approve that deal in 15 minutes, which shows you the power of tariffs," he said.
The president's comments follow his decision on Friday to extend the deadline for TikTok to find a non-Chinese buyer by another 75 days. The video-sharing platform, which has more than 170 million users in the US, is facing potential shutdown under a law passed last year that mandates its separation from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance .
Trump has previously said his administration was working on a deal that would involve multiple investors to keep TikTok operating in the country, though he has provided few specifics.
ByteDance, for its part, confirmed ongoing discussions with US government but said "key matters" still needed to be resolved. In a statement, the company noted that no agreement had been finalised and emphasised that any arrangement would also be "subject to approval under Chinese law."
Speaking aboard Air Force One, Trump said Beijing's change of stance came after Washington slapped an additional 34 per cent tariff on all Chinese imports last week.
"The report is that we had a deal, pretty much for TikTok, not a deal, but pretty close, and then China changed the deal because of tariffs. If I gave a little cut in tariffs, they'd approve that deal in 15 minutes, which shows you the power of tariffs," he said.
The president's comments follow his decision on Friday to extend the deadline for TikTok to find a non-Chinese buyer by another 75 days. The video-sharing platform, which has more than 170 million users in the US, is facing potential shutdown under a law passed last year that mandates its separation from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance .
Trump has previously said his administration was working on a deal that would involve multiple investors to keep TikTok operating in the country, though he has provided few specifics.
ByteDance, for its part, confirmed ongoing discussions with US government but said "key matters" still needed to be resolved. In a statement, the company noted that no agreement had been finalised and emphasised that any arrangement would also be "subject to approval under Chinese law."
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