President Donald Trump Delays Enforcement of Law Requiring TikTok Divestiture or US Ban
United States President Donald Trump has once again extended the deadline for the owners of the popular video app TikTok to sell to non-Chinese buyers or face a ban in the US.
Announced on Friday, the executive order extends the deadline by 75 days. This follows a previous extension of a January deadline set by a law passed by the US Congress last year.
“My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress,” Trump posted on his Truth Social network.
He added that “the deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed” and expressed optimism: “We look forward to working with TikTok and China to close the Deal.”
The 2024 law, which received bipartisan support, mandated that TikTok be divested from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, or be barred in the US. The law was driven by concerns over data harvesting and national security.
Earlier this year, the US Supreme Court ruled that national security concerns outweighed freedom of speech considerations, allowing the law to remain in effect. However, on his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order pausing the ban.
The order stated that the delay would allow the Trump administration “the opportunity to determine the appropriate course forward in an orderly way that protects national security while avoiding an abrupt shutdown of a communications platform used by millions of Americans.”
Since then, the Trump administration has received numerous offers from US businesses interested in acquiring TikTok. However, ByteDance has publicly maintained that it has no plans to sell the app.
According to a Reuters report, the administration is focusing on a plan for TikTok’s largest non-Chinese investors to increase their stakes and acquire the app’s US operations. This would involve creating a new US entity for TikTok and reducing Chinese ownership to below the 20% threshold required by US law.
TikTok, which has headquarters in Singapore and Los Angeles, has emphasized its commitment to user safety. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also stated that the Chinese government has never and will never ask companies to “collect or provide data, information, or intelligence” held in foreign countries.
As part of negotiations, Trump has floated the idea of reducing tariffs on China, which are set to rise to 54% on April 10, following a recent reciprocal tariff announcement.
While TikTok is not owned by the Chinese government and its leaders deny any influence, critics have highlighted Beijing’s increasing control over the country’s tech industry.
With approximately half of the US population using TikTok, it remains one of the most popular social media platforms in the country.
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