Trump hints at tariff concessions if China agrees to TikTok deal
WASHINGTON, United States – US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he may offer to reduce tariffs on China to get Beijing’s approval for the sale of popular social media platform TikTok.
“Maybe I give them a little reduction in tariffs or something to get it done,” he told reporters at the White House.
Trump earlier this month said the United States was in talks with four groups interested in acquiring TikTok, with the app facing an uncertain future in the country.
READ: China exploring possible sale of US TikTok to Musk — report
A US law has ordered TikTok to divest from its Chinese owner ByteDance or be banned in the United States, enacted over concerns that Beijing could exploit the video-sharing platform to spy on Americans or covertly influence US public opinion.
The law took effect on January 19, a day before Trump’s inauguration, but he quickly announced a delay to the law which has allowed it to continue to operate.
That delay is set to expire on April 5.
“We’re going to have a form of a deal,” Trump said, adding that if it wasn’t done in time, he would extend the deadline.
“China is going to have to play a role in that, possibly in the form of an approval and I think they’ll do that.”
During his first stint in the White House, Trump similarly attempted to ban TikTok in the United States on national security concerns.
In January, TikTok temporarily shut down in the United States and disappeared from app stores as the deadline for the law approached, to the dismay of millions of users.
Trump suspended its implementation for two-and-a-half months after beginning his second term on January 20, seeking a solution with Beijing.
TikTok subsequently restored service in the United States and returned to the Apple and Google app stores in February.
Artificial intelligence (AI) startup Perplexity recently expressed its interest in buying TikTok.
Perplexity in a blog post laid out a vision for integrating its AI-powered internet search capabilities with the popular video-snippet sharing app.
“Combining Perplexity’s answer engine with TikTok’s extensive video library would allow us to build the best search experience in the world,” the San Francisco-based firm reasoned.
Although TikTok does not appear overly motivated regarding the sale of the app, potential buyers include an initiative called “The People’s Bid for TikTok,” launched by real estate and sports tycoon Frank McCourt’s Project Liberty initiative.
Others in the running are Microsoft, Oracle and a group that includes Internet personality MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson.
“Any acquisition by a consortium of investors could in effect keep ByteDance in control of the algorithm, while any acquisition by a competitor would likely create a monopoly in the short form video and information space,” Perplexity contended in the post.
“All of society benefits when content feeds are liberated from the manipulations of foreign governments and globalist monopolists.”
