Both Beijing and Washington said ahead of the trade talks that TikTok’s future will top the agenda.
U.S. President Donald Trump suggested in a social media post on Sept. 15 that a deal had been reached on the fate of TikTok, as top U.S. and Chinese negotiators met in Madrid for a second day of trade talks.
“The big Trade Meeting in Europe between The United States of America, and China, has gone VERY WELL!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “It will be concluding shortly.
“A deal was also reached on a ‘certain’ company that young people in our Country very much wanted to save. They will be very happy!”
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters in Madrid on Sept. 15 that a framework for the deal has been reached, in large part because of Trump weighing in.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said: “President Trump played a role in this, we had a call with him last night, we had specific guidance from him; we shared it with our Chinese counterparts.
“Without his leadership and the leverage he provides, we would not have been able to conclude the deal today.”
Bessent said earlier that his Chinese counterparts had come with a “very aggressive ask,” wanting concessions on trade and technology in exchange for allowing ByteDance to sell TikTok.
“We are not willing to sacrifice national security for a social media app,” Bessent said at the time.
Bessent did not reveal details about the terms of the deal, except to say that the Chinese side cared about preserving the “Chinese characteristics” of TikTok.
“They’re interested in Chinese characteristics of the app, which they think are soft power. We don’t care about Chinese characteristics. We care about national security,” Bessent told reporters.
By Dorothy Li
