Trump Hints TikTok Deal Reached With China, Will Speak With Xi on Friday
Udumbara
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President Donald Trump suggested in a social media post on Sept. 15 that a deal had been reached on the fate of TikTok, as top U.S. and Chinese negotiators met in Madrid, Spain, for a second day of trade talks.
“A deal was also reached on a ‘certain’ company that young people in our Country very much wanted to save. They will be very happy!”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters in Madrid on Monday that a framework for the deal has been reached, in large part due to Trump weighing in.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said: “President Trump played a role in this, we had a call with him last night, we had specific guidance from him; we shared it with our Chinese counterparts.
“Without his leadership and the leverage he provides, we would not have been able to include the deal today.”
Bessent had said earlier that his Chinese counterparts had come with a “very aggressive ask,” wanting concessions on trade and technology in exchange for allowing ByteDance to sell TikTok.
“We are not willing to sacrifice national security for a social media app,” Bessent had said.
Beijing separately announced on Monday that a preliminary investigation of Nvidia had found the U.S. chip giant had violated its anti-monopoly law, a move seen as retaliation against U.S. technology export controls.
Bessent said the announcement on Nvidia was poor timing.
Trump said he will be speaking with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Sept. 19, adding that the relationship “remains a very strong one.”
Both Beijing and Washington said ahead of the trade talks that TikTok’s future will top the agenda.
After President Joe Biden signed the TikTok divest-or-ban law, the firm’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, was given until Jan. 19—the last day of Biden’s term—to divest itself of the popular social media app. A court granted a delay, given that Trump was assuming office the day after the deadline.
Since then, Trump has extended the divestiture deadline several times.
