China Approved TikTok Transfer Deal, Bessent Says
Udumbara
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Chinese leader Xi Jinping told U.S. President Donald Trump at the beginning of their meeting in South Korea that he would agree to a deal made between Bessent and Chinese officials in Malaysia earlier this week, according to Bessent.
“In Kuala Lumpur, we finalized the TikTok agreement in terms of getting Chinese approval,” Bessent told Fox Business. “And I would expect that would go forward in the coming weeks and months, and we’ll finally see a resolution to that.”
The transfer would allow the United States to protect the user data of millions of Americans and ensure the content is not controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.
Trump has repeatedly delayed shutting TikTok down in the United States since taking office, in expectation of reaching an agreement on the video app’s operations.
National security concerns prompted a law enacted last year under the Biden administration that required ByteDance to sell TikTok, or the app would face a ban in the United States.
Chinese law did not allow ByteDance to sell the app’s algorithm. U.S. officials also said the Chinese Communist Party can gain access to sensitive user data and influence Americans if the app is under a Chinese company.
Trump’s executive order saves TikTok from being banned in the United States by providing a framework for an agreement with China. It calls for China to approve divestment from the app and allow TikTok’s U.S. application to be operated by a new joint-venture company based in the United States.
The new company would be majority-owned by U.S. investors, operated in the country by a board of directors with national security and cybersecurity credentials, and subject to strict rules to protect American user data.
ByteDance would also hold less than 20 percent of the stock, according to the executive order.
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Oracle, a leading U.S. tech company, would act as TikTok’s security provider and independently monitor and assure the safety of its operations in the United States.
The agreement would put the operation of the algorithm, code, and content moderation decisions under the control of the new joint venture.
The Trump administration estimates that about 170 million Americans use TikTok, with many content creators relying on the video application for their livelihood. Many businesses and politicians also rely on it to reach millions of users every day.
Preserving TikTok’s business is expected to generate $178 billion in economic activity in the United States over the next four years and sustain thousands of jobs and businesses, according to the Trump administration.
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