A potential deal to sell TikTok has been scuttled due to President Donald Trump’s tariffs on China, with the White House extending the sale deadline by 75 days to find a non-Chinese buyer.
A deal had reportedly been agreed upon on Wednesday, but the recently imposed tariffs on China presented a significant obstacle, prompting ByteDance representatives to inform the White House that China would not accept the deal until trade and tariff negotiations were conducted.
The deal would have spun off TikTok’s US operations into a new, American-based company owned and operated by a majority of American investors, with ByteDance maintaining a minority stake, and would have required a 120-day closing period to finalize paperwork and financing.
Trump’s tariff strategy appears to be closely tied to the TikTok deal, with the president hinting that future trade tariffs on China could hinge on the outcome of negotiations over the platform’s ownership.
ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, must find a non-Chinese buyer for the app or face a ban under a law passed in 2024, adding pressure to the already complex negotiations.