The future of TikTok in the U.S. has hit another roadblock.
President Donald Trump announced on April 4 that he is granting a 75-day extension for TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to finalize a deal to divest its U.S. operations. The delay comes after a sudden shift in trade policy—Trump’s new tariffs on China—prompted Beijing to back away from approving the agreement.
Deal Was Close—Until Tariffs Hit
According to sources close to the negotiations, a deal had been nearly finalized by midweek. The plan would have seen TikTok’s U.S. operations spun off into a separate, American-owned entity. ByteDance was expected to retain a minority stake, but the majority would be controlled by U.S. investors.
However, after Trump’s sweeping tariff policies went into effect, ByteDance officials informed the White House that China would not approve any deal without broader discussions around tariffs and trade. This development forced Trump to delay the decision via an executive order.
“The Deal requires more work… which is why I am signing an Executive Order to keep TikTok up and running for an additional 75 days,” Trump said on Truth Social.
ByteDance and U.S. Still in Talks
ByteDance remains quiet about whether it truly plans to divest TikTok. The company confirmed it is in talks with the U.S. government but noted that any agreement must also pass Chinese regulatory scrutiny.
Several potential U.S. buyers are still in the running, including:
- Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin
- AI startup Perplexity AI
- Amazon and AppLovin
- Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, part of Frank McCourt’s investor group
- Wyoming entrepreneur Reid Rasner
Despite the uncertainty, Trump remains optimistic. He believes that China’s resistance to the deal will lead to dual negotiations—one for TikTok and one for tariff reductions.
TikTok’s Limbo Continues
With 170 million U.S. users, TikTok remains a major social media force. However, its future has been in limbo since bipartisan legislation passed in 2024 called for a ban unless ByteDance sold its U.S. assets.
The Supreme Court upheld the ban in late 2024, but enforcement was deferred until Trump took office. He initially paused the ban to give ByteDance time to negotiate, but the clock is once again ticking.
Trump’s team—Vice President JD Vance and National Security Adviser Michael Waltz—remains hopeful they can reach a revised deal in the coming weeks.
Source: NBC News
