The US President has indicated that he would extend the June 19th deadline for China-based ByteDance to divest the US assets of TikTok, the short video app used by 170 million Americans, if no deal is reached by then.
He made these remarks during an interview on NBC News’ program ‘Meet the Press with Kristen Welker,’ taped at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and aired across the United States on Sunday.
The President expressed a “sweet spot” for the app after it aided him in winning over young voters in the 2024 presidential election, adding, “TikTok is — it’s very interesting, but it will be protected.”
He has already granted two reprieves from the enforcement of a congressionally mandated ban on TikTok, which was initially set to take effect in January.
A deal had been in development to spin off TikTok’s US operations into a new US-based firm, majority-owned and operated by US investors, but it was paused after China signaled it would not approve it following the President’s announcement of steep tariffs on Chinese goods.
Democratic senators argue that the President lacks the legal authority to extend the deadline, and suggest that the previously considered deal would not meet legal requirements.
A source close to ByteDance’s US investors stated last month that work on a prospective deal is ongoing ahead of the June 19th deadline, but the White House and Beijing must first resolve the tariff dispute.
The President told NBC News that China is eager to reach an agreement, citing the economic impact of the 145% tariffs imposed on Chinese goods.
He stated that he would not drop the tariffs to bring Beijing to the negotiating table, but could eventually lower them as part of a broader agreement.
“At some point, I’m going to lower them because otherwise, you could never do business with them. And they want to do business very much,” he said.
The law required TikTok to cease operations by January 19th unless ByteDance had completed the divestiture of the app’s US assets. The President began his second term on January 20th and chose not to enforce it. He initially extended the deadline to early April, and then again last month to June 19th.
