China retaliated on Friday to Trump’s sweeping 54 percent tariffs with its own 34 percent tariffs on all U.S. goods.
President Donald Trump on April 4 extended by 75 days the deadline by which TikTok must divest from its Beijing-based parent company or face a ban in the United States.
Trump made the announcement in a Friday post on his social media platform Truth Social.
“My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress,” Trump wrote. “The Deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed, which is why I am signing an Executive Order to keep TikTok up and running for an additional 75 days.”
The president said he would continue working in “good faith” with China, which has responded to his 54 percent total tariff on its imports into the United States with retaliatory 34 percent tariffs on all U.S. goods imported into China.
Trump said on Thursday that he could potentially use his tariffs as a bargaining chip to get the Chinese regime to approve the sale of TikTok’s U.S.-based operations from its parent company, ByteDance, which several U.S. officials have warned has ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
“You have a situation with TikTok where China will probably say: ‘We’ll approve a deal, but will you do something on the tariffs?’” Trump said. “We could use tariffs in order to get something in return.”
There was a looming April 5 deadline by which TikTok had to reach a deal with a non-Chinese buyer or face a potential ban in the United States. Congress passed legislation last year mandating a divestment of the app’s U.S. operations from the Beijing-based ByteDance, which then-President Joe Biden signed into law.
Trump had said ahead of the original April 5 deadline that his team was “very close” to reaching a deal.
Several bidders have already lined up, expressing interest in purchasing the short video app’s U.S.-based operations.
Those include Amazon and a consortium led by OnlyFans founder Tim Stokely. Blackstone, a private equity firm, is also discussing joining ByteDance’s non-Chinese shareholders in offering new capital for a bid.
By Jacob Burg
