U.S. President Donald Trump announced his willingness to lower customs tariffs on goods from China in order to finalize a deal with the Chinese company ByteDance for the sale of the popular app TikTok. This was reported by Reuters.
This is reported by Business • Media
ByteDance must find a buyer for TikTok that is not Chinese by April 5, 2025. Otherwise, the app may be banned in the U.S. due to national security concerns.
Trump also emphasized that he is prepared to extend the deadline for banning TikTok in the U.S. if a sale agreement is not reached by the specified date. He noted that China will play a significant role in the process of finalizing any deal, including its approval:
“I might give them a slight reduction in tariffs or something else to make it happen”
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Trump’s statement underscores the importance of the TikTok sale for his administration, as he is willing to use customs tariffs as leverage in negotiations with China.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance stated that the general terms of a deal that resolves the ownership issue of TikTok could be reached by April 5.
Free speech advocates in the U.S. have expressed concern that a TikTok ban could lead to illegal restrictions on Americans’ access to foreign media, which would violate the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Currently, approximately 170 million Americans use TikTok.
It is worth noting that on December 17, 2024, the European Commission announced an investigation into TikTok’s influence on the elections in Romania, and on December 21, 2024, the Albanian authorities announced a year-long ban on the TikTok social network due to the murder of a teenager, raising concerns about the impact of social media on children.