The US president said that if he reduced tariffs, the Chinese administration would have approved the transaction “in 15 minutes.”
President Donald Trump said on Sunday that China is approaching approving a contract for the sale of Tiktok, but has retreated due to a 54% tariff on Chinese imports.
“We mostly traded for Tiktok. It’s not a transaction, it’s pretty close. And China changed the transaction due to tariffs,” Trump told reporters to Air Force 1. “If I cut the tariffs a little, they will approve the transaction in 15 minutes and show the power of the tariff.”
In addition to the 20% tariffs it imposed earlier this year, Trump announced a 34% mutual tariff on Chinese imports on April 2, bringing the total tariff rate on Chinese imports to 54%.
Under the law signed by then-President Joe Biden in 2024, Tiktok is needed to sell US assets or face a nationwide ban. Trump effectively suspended the ban until mid-June.
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The ordinance said the agreement with Washington would be subject to approval under Chinese law.
Earlier in the month, Trump signaled that Beijing might consider a deal that would approve the sale of Tiktok in exchange for tariff relief from the US.
“There’s a situation in Tiktok, where China probably says, ‘I’ll approve the transaction, but will I do something with tariffs?’ “He said on April 5th.
This expansion allowed Tiktok to continue operating in the US. Trump said his administration has made “incredible progress” in closing the deal to secure Tiktok buyers and expressed his hope that he will “continue to work in good faith” with China’s communist regime.
Several bidders have expressed interest in purchasing Tiktok. These include a consortium led by Amazon and OnlyFans founder Tim Stokely. Private equity firm Blackstone is also discussing joining Bytedance’s non-Chinese shareholders in providing new capital to bid on Tiktok’s US-based business.
Tiktok faces scrutiny amid concerns that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could have access to US consumer data and algorithms owned by bytedance. US officials allegedly rejected the company raising national security concerns about the app as they allegedly a ordinance with the CCP.
Vice President JD Vance said on April 3 that the administration must ensure that Tiktok cannot be used to spy on American citizens, but at the same time it could also keep it accessible to users who rely on the app for business transactions.
“You also want to have people access to this incredible platform. That’s where, as we know, a lot of young people get their news…and we need to achieve both of them,” Vance told Fox News.
Jacob Berg and Emel Akan contributed to this report.
