TikTok ban: USA and China reach framework agreement

The United States and China have reached a framework agreement to address the US government's concerns about Chinese ownership of TikTok. This was announced by representatives of both countries on Monday.

Both sides had agreed on a "framework for a TikTok deal", said US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent after two days of negotiations in Madrid. It was the fourth round of negotiations between the US and China in four months, which focused on the strained trade relations and the deadline for the sale of TikTok. Bessent did not provide any details on the terms of the agreement. He merely stated that the agreement would address the security concerns of the US, but would retain the "Chinese characteristics" of TikTok. The "commercial terms" had been agreed. The agreement is to be confirmed in a phone call between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday, Bessent added.

Li Chenggang, China's top trade negotiator, said the two countries had reached a "basic framework consensus" on issues such as TikTok – a slight departure from the language used by the US side, according to Reuters news agency.

US President Donald Trump also had his say. "An agreement was also reached on a 'certain' company that young people in our country desperately wanted to save," he wrote on his Truth social platform. "They will be very happy!"

Breakthrough after long negotiations

If the TikTok agreement comes to fruition, it would be a breakthrough after months of back and forth. In the US alone, the video app owned by Chinese company ByteDance has 170 million users. Last year, the US Senate passed a law by a large majority to force the sale of TikTok to US investors. Otherwise, the popular app would be banned from the app stores in the USA and thus effectively banned.

The background to the ban is that the US government considers TikTok to be a risk to the national security of the United States. The Chinese government could use the app to collect sensitive data from US citizens or spread pro-Chinese propaganda, according to fears. ByteDance took legal action against the ban. In mid-January, however, the US Supreme Court rejected the company's appeal and upheld the TikTok ban.

The law stipulates that TikTok can be granted a 90-day stay if steps towards a sale are proven. Since his re-election, Trump has approved this stay several times, most recently in mid-June. Trump's personal account has 15 million followers. At the end of August, the White House also set up its own official TikTok channel.

Sales negotiations were underway at the same time; however, China had recently ruled out the sale of TikTok several times, referring to the import duties on Chinese goods imposed by Trump. Meanwhile, according to a media report, ByteDance is planning an independent TikTok app for the US market only.

On September 17, i.e. Wednesday, another deadline for the operation of TikTok in the USA would have expired. According to US Treasury Secretary Bessent, this prompted the Chinese negotiators to reach an agreement. The deadline could now be extended again by 90 days to allow the agreement to be finalized.

(akn)