Negotiations between the US and China have become intense. The clock is ticking on TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, to find a buyer. The third most popular social media platform, it boasts approximately 170 million users in the U.S. It is under threat of a complete ban if a deal isn’t made by Wednesday to extend their contract.
The U.S. Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, is heading up the American delegation. Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng is leading the talks from the Chinese side. Those negotiations have recently begun in earnest in Spain. It is an important development in the months-long trade battle between the two countries. This past July, Chief Trade Representatives from both Beijing and Washington agreed to meet in Sweden. Trump and Xi reached a deal to extend their tariffs truce for another 90 days.
That quickly approaching deadline is key for TikTok, which has emerged as one of the world’s most popular social media platforms. President Donald Trump has indicated he may grant ByteDance more time to sell TikTok. This would be the fourth time he’s contemplated extending it. Though some extensions are possible, debate continues to center around fear of terrorism and privacy issues. In particular, TikTok’s Chinese ownership has still the red flags.
In his own climate and energy plan, Trump has downplayed many of these security threats as “highly overrated.” He stated, “We may let [TikTok] die. Or we may… I don’t know. It depends. Up to China, it doesn’t matter too much.”
Every stakeholder is watching the negotiations carefully. They know full well the disproportionate effect these negotiations will have on the platform’s hundreds of millions of users in the U.S. TikTok’s fate remains uncertain, with everyone waiting to see what happens in these high-stakes negotiations. The possibility of a ban looms large, creating uncertainty not only for ByteDance but for millions of users who rely on TikTok for entertainment and communication.