The US treasury secretary has said Washington reached a framework deal with China on the ownership of TikTok's American operations.
Scott Bessent said the framework was set in trade talks in Madrid to pave the way for US ownership. He added that US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping would complete the deal on Friday.
Trump stated on Truth Social that the talks had gone very well, while China confirmed a framework agreement but emphasized that no deal would come at the expense of Chinese companies' interests.
A deadline is looming for the Chinese owner of TikTok to find a buyer for its American operations or face a shutdown and ban in the US.
Bessent announced the framework deal on the second day of negotiations aimed at resolving a trade war between the two nations. He mentioned that the threat of shutting down the social media platform in the US had persuaded Chinese negotiators to drop their demands for reduced tariffs as part of the deal.
US trade representative Jamieson Greer stated that the terms agreed upon would protect US national security interests, but emphasized that the deal was still subject to the leaders' approval.
China’s top trade negotiator, Li Chenggang, stated that the deal would not undermine China's principles or interests.
In January, the US Supreme Court upheld a law banning TikTok unless its parent company, ByteDance, sold its US division. The US Justice Department has deemed TikTok's access to American user data a national-security threat of immense depth and scale.
Experts are cautious about the specifics of the new agreement, particularly regarding the potential control of TikTok's recommendation algorithm and the handling of user data.
