President Donald Trump on Friday extended the deadline for TikTok to find a non-Chinese buyer or face a ban in the United States, giving his administration 75 more days to find a solution.
"A transaction requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed, which is why I am signing an Executive Order to keep TikTok up and running for an additional 75 days,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
On Thursday, Trump said his administration was "very close” to reaching a deal on TikTok, with multiple investors involved.
The White House-led talks on the future of TikTok, which is used by 170 million Americans, are coalescing around a plan for the biggest non-Chinese investors in parent company ByteDance to increase their stakes and acquire the short video app’s U.S. operations, Reuters has reported.
The plan entails spinning off a U.S. entity for TikTok and diluting Chinese ownership in the new business to below the 20 percent threshold required by U.S. law, rescuing the app from a looming U.S. ban, sources have told Reuters.
Jeff Yass’s Susquehanna International Group and Bill Ford’s General Atlantic, both of which are represented on ByteDance’s board, are leading discussions with the White House, Reuters reported.
China now faces a 54% tariff on goods imported into the U.S. Trump has said he would be willing to reduce tariffs on China to get a deal done with ByteDance.
The biggest stumbling block to any deal for TikTok’s U.S. business is Chinese government approval. Until now, Beijing has not made a public commitment to allow a sale.
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump has said his administration was in touch with four different groups about a prospective TikTok deal. He has not identified them.
