Trump will do whatever it takes to get a TikTok deal

President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he may lower China’s tariffs to secure Beijing’s support for selling TikTok’s US operations to an American company. 

Speaking from the Oval Office, the president made his remarks during an event where he also introduced a new 25% duty on automobile imports. The comments come as part of a broader effort by the president to reshape trade relations with China, following the 20% levies he has already imposed on Chinese goods.

The president predicted that he could secure at least an outline of a deal for TikTok by next week. However, he added that if an agreement is not reached, he would extend the deadline. “We’re going to have a form of a deal, but if it’s not finished, it’s not a big deal. We’ll just extend it,” 

Trump said, “I have the right to have the deal and to extend it if I want.” His remarks show that he’ll go one step ahead to complete the negotiations. He added, “We have a lot of interest in TikTok.”

Trump also mentioned that there are various ways to acquire TikTok, and he wants to find the one that’s best for the US. He clarified that China will ‘possibly’ have to play a role in it, such as in the form of an approval. 

He said, “I think they’ll do that. Maybe I’ll give them a little reduction in Tariffs or something, to get it done.” Trump thinks that’s justified, and probably a good offer, because “every point in Tariffs is worth more money than TikTok.”

There was a time when Trump wanted to ban TikTok. However, the app helped him reach younger voters and helped him with the 2024 election campaign. This turned the President into a major supporter of the app.

TikTok’s recent past in the US was troubled but now it appears that Trump will go to any lengths to change that for good.

Negotiations have been underway with four unnamed bidders

Under a law signed last year by President Joe Biden, ByteDance Ltd.—TikTok’s Chinese parent company—was required to sell the US operations of the app by January 19. 

TikTok briefly paused its service earlier this year, but a full shutdown was narrowly avoided when Trump signed an executive order delaying the law’s enforcement by 90 days, extending the deadline to April 5. 

Earlier this month, Trump confirmed that negotiations were underway with four potential bidders for TikTok. Although he did not name all the parties, publicly known bidders include a group led by billionaire Frank McCourt and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, another group featuring tech entrepreneur Jesse Tinsley and YouTube star MrBeast, and a merger offer by San Francisco-based Perplexity AI. 

In addition, Oracle Corp. is weighing a proposal that would see it provide security assurances and take a small stake in a new American entity while possibly allowing ByteDance to retain TikTok’s influential algorithm.

Any final deal would need the approval of not only Trump but also ByteDance and the Chinese government. Allowing ByteDance to keep the algorithm might smooth the way for Chinese approval; however, it could risk noncompliance with the divestiture law. 

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