President Donald Trump announced an extension — again — of the deadline for TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance to divest its US operations. Originally set for April 5, this deadline has been extended by an additional 75 days to facilitate ongoing negotiations aimed at transitioning TikTok to American ownership. Several bids have been reported, with names of almost every major American tech player coming in the fray.
Interestingly, this extension follows a prior 75-day prolongation granted in January, reflecting the administration’s intent to avoid a ban on the popular social media platform. President Trump emphasized the desire to work collaboratively with ByteDance and the Chinese government to reach a satisfactory resolution.
“We hope to continue working in Good Faith with China, who I understand are not very happy about our Reciprocal Tariffs (Necessary for Fair and Balanced Trade between China and the U.S.A.!). This proves that Tariffs are the most powerful Economic tool, and very important to our National Security! We do not want TikTok to go dark,” President Trump said in his post.
The move comes at a time when recent developments in the US – China tariff war have escalated tensions between the two nations. The Trump government initiated a 10% baseline tariff on most imported products, with specific tariffs on Chinese goods set to increase to a total of 34% by April 9. China reciprocated Trump’s reciprocal tariffs with 34% tariff on all U.S. imports, effective April 10.
Coming back to TikTok’s scenario, several US companies have expressed interest in acquiring TikTok’s US business. In fact, Amazon, Perplexity AI, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), and Oracle (in partnership with private equity firms like Blackstone) have emerged as a leading contender.
Interestingly, the backdrop to these developments involves a US law – PAFACA Act (passed in April 2024) – that requires foreign-controlled applications (mainly TikTok) to divest their US operations amid national security concerns. At the start of this year, the US Supreme Court upheld the law, briefly leading to TikTok’s shutdown in the US. However, after Donald Trump took office, he signaled openness to a deal, even considering tariff reductions if China approved the sale.
This is not the only problem in front of ByteDance. Actually, the European Union is reportedly preparing to fine ByteDance (or TikTok) over €500 million (~$552 million). The investigation into TikTok primarily focuses on allegations that the platform transferred European users’ data to China ‘without obtaining proper authorization.’ It is important to note that TikTok has previously encountered significant fines and investigations related to data privacy concerns. For example, in 2023, the Irish Data Protection Commission fined TikTok €345 million for failing to protect children’s privacy.
