President Donald Trump claimed on Sunday that China would have agreed to a deal over TikTok’s sale if not for the latest round of US tariffs imposed on Chinese imports.
Speaking aboard Air Force One, Trump told reporters, “The report is that we had a deal, pretty much for TikTok, not a deal, but pretty close, and then China changed the deal because of tariffs. If I gave a little cut in tariffs, they’d approve that deal in 15 minutes, which shows you the power of tariffs.”
The Biden-era legislation, now being enforced under Trump’s renewed presidency, demands that TikTok either sever ties with its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, or face a nationwide ban.
The app, boasting more than 170 million users in the US, has become a central point of contention in ongoing tech and trade tensions between Washington and Beijing.
Trump extended the deadline for TikTok to finalize a sale to a non-Chinese buyer by 75 days—just one day after increasing tariffs by 34 percent on all Chinese imports.
While Trump insisted that a deal to secure TikTok’s future in the US was close and involved multiple investors, he offered limited specifics. ByteDance confirmed it was engaged in talks with US authorities and seeking a resolution but said there were still “key matters” to address. The company stressed, “An agreement has not been executed”, and any deal reached would still need “approval under Chinese law.”
