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Washington: The US and China have reached a “deal” to divest the American operations of social media giant TikTok, with US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to speak on Friday to finalise the long-standing matter.
The announcement came after an American delegation led by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Madrid for another round of trade talks between the world’s two largest economies.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called the TikTok agreement with China as a framework rather than a final deal.Credit: AP
“The big Trade Meeting in Europe between The United States of America, and China, has gone VERY WELL!” Trump posted on social media.
“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! I will be speaking to President Xi on Friday. The relationship remains a very strong one!!!”
Speaking to reporters in Madrid, Bessent described the agreement as a framework rather than a final deal, and declined to share details.
“We have a framework for a TikTok deal. The two leaders, President Trump and Party Chair Xi, will speak on Friday to complete the deal. But we do have a framework for a deal with TikTok,” he said.
“The framework is for it to switch to US-controlled ownership. We are not going to talk about the commercial terms of the deal. It’s between two private parties. But the commercial terms have been agreed upon.”
The talks also aimed to resolve disputes between the US and China on trade, tariffs and the supply of critical minerals. Trump initially hit Chinese exports to the US with a 145 per cent tariff, effectively halting trade, but reduced that to 30 per cent while negotiations continue.
The current “pause” on higher tariffs is due to expire on November 10, but United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, who also attended the meeting, indicated the deadline could be extended again.
“We’re certainly open to considering further action there if the talks continue in a positive direction,” he said. The flow of rare earth minerals to the US from China – which processes about 90 per cent of the global supply – had improved, Greer said.
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TikTok, a popular video app with between 120 and 170 million monthly active users in the US, is owned by Chinese company ByteDance. In 2024, Congress passed legislation requiring the app’s US operations to be divested, or face a ban on national security grounds.
In the absence of a deal, the ban was due to start in January. But Trump, in one of his first acts as president, instructed his attorney-general not to enforce the law for 90 days. That reprieve has been extended multiple times while officials attempted to strike a deal with a US buyer.
Trump credits TikTok, as well as assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk, for his success with younger voters at the 2024 election. “I’d like to do it for the kids,” he said of a potential deal to save TikTok in the US.
The US president’s upcoming call with Xi may also set up a much-anticipated in-person meeting between the two men, the first of Trump’s second term. The two may meet at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum in Seoul at the end of October, but China also wants Trump to visit Beijing.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that Chinese diplomats had been courting the White House for two months hoping to secure a presidential visit.
with AP
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