TikTok: Chinese Owners Slow-roll Sale

The App for short videos Even as President Donald Trump’s friends scramble to negotiate a deal to sell TikTok to an American bidder, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday that the company’s owner, ByteDance, appears to be slow-rolling the sale discussions while awaiting Chinese government clearance.

As it waits for a “grand deal” with Trump’s government that involves further concessions on trade and tech policy, China is likely to adopt a tough stance, allowing TikTok’s U.S. operations to fail instead of authorizing a sale, the report stated.

When Reuters asked TikTok for comment on the claim, the company did not immediately reply.

China swiftly responded to new U.S. levies on Chinese commodities that, in contrast to those imposed on Mexico and Canada, were not stopped by Trump by imposing tariffs on U.S. imports, sparking a fresh trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

Late last month, Trump stated that he was in discussions with many parties about purchasing TikTok and that he would probably make a decision on the future of the well-known app within the next 30 days.

Before a legislation requiring ByteDance to sell the app on national security grounds or prohibit it went into force on January 19, the 170 million-user app was briefly put down.

A day later, Trump signed an executive order attempting to postpone the law’s implementation by seventy-five days. Following a warning from U.S. officials over the potential for ByteDance to exploit American data, this rule was implemented.

Sources told The Washington Post that ByteDance is still awaiting Beijing’s approval to start negotiations. However, Beijing doesn’t seem keen to approve the deal completion. “As it waits for a ‘grand deal’ with the Trump administration that includes larger concessions on trade and tech policy, Beijing is increasingly likely to take a hard-line approach, letting TikTok’s U.S. operations die rather than approving a sale,” according to those people.

Trump levied taxes on goods coming from China, Mexico, and Canada—the US’s top three trading partners. The 10% duty on Chinese imports will remain in effect, even if the levies on Canada and Mexico were temporarily suspended. China retaliated with its own limitations, which included limiting mineral exports and looking into Google’s antitrust practices. In addition, it has complained about the levies to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Trump pledged during the election to “save TikTok” by halting the implementation of a bill that President Biden had signed. Although he claimed to be the only one capable of negotiating TikTok’s separation from ByteDance, it now looks as though TikTok would suffer as a result of his trade talks with the Chinese government.

According to The Post, Chinese officials are hesitant to give Trump a victory unless they receive significant concessions. Among these are promises of reduced tariffs and trade policy exemptions for goods such as semiconductor chips. The CCP is hesitant to support Trump’s attempts to “save TikTok,” considering he was the first president to advocate for a ban on the app in 2020.

Over the past six months, American groups’ interest in buying and acquiring TikTok has increased dramatically. Although no frontrunners have surfaced, a number of companies are drafting bids to take over the Gen Z-favoured social networking platform.

Even as corporate allies of President Donald Trump scramble to broker a deal to sell the app to an American bidder, TikTok’s Chinese owner seems to be slow-rolling negotiations for a sale while awaiting approval from the Chinese government, according to three people familiar with the talks who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private business transactions.

However, as it waits for a “grand deal” with the Trump administration that involves further concessions on trade and tech policy, Beijing is more likely to adopt a tough stance, allowing TikTok’s U.S. operations to fail rather than authorising a sale, according to one of the people and experts.