Trump’s TikTok Plan Upended by Chinese Objections Over Tariffs
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President Donald Trump had nearly clinched an agreement with TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance Ltd. that would spare the popular app from a US ban, but the deal was scuttled after China withheld its approval following this week’s tariff announcement, according to a person familiar with the matter.
After months of negotiations, US officials were close to an accord Wednesday that would launch a new US-based version of TikTok owned and operated by a majority of American investors, according to the person. The proposal called for reducing ByteDance’s holdings below 20% to comply with a US law requiring the Beijing-based company to divest its TikTok stake or see the app banned in the US.