News Brief
Trump Claims TikTok Deal With US Was ‘Pretty Close’ But Tariff Tensions With China Delay Agreement
Trump on TikTok
US President Donald Trump has revealed that a deal to secure TikTok’s future in the United States was “pretty close,” but was hindered by China’s objections linked to ongoing tariff disputes, reported ANI.
Speaking aboard Air Force One, Trump told reporters, “The report is that we had a deal, pretty much for TikTok, not a deal, but pretty close, and then China changed the deal because of tariffs. If I gave a little cut in tariffs, they’d approve that deal in 15 minutes, which shows you the power of tariffs.”
Trump had recently imposed a 34 per cent tariff on Chinese goods. In response, China announced reciprocal tariffs of the same rate on all US imports, effective 10 April. The trade tensions appear to have complicated negotiations around TikTok, which faces a potential ban in the US.
On his social media platform Truth Social, Trump confirmed his administration was working to “save TikTok” and announced an executive order to keep the app operational for an additional 75 days.
Trump expressed cautious optimism, stating, “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 USA!). 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.’ We look forward to working with TikTok and China to close the deal.”
TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, had confirmed discussions with the US government are ongoing. “An agreement has not been executed. There are key matters to be resolved. Any agreement will be subject to approval under Chinese law,” a spokesperson said.
