TikTok deal put on hold after China indicated it would reject it over tariffs, sources say
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Source: Reuters
April 4, 2025 7:27 PM EDT Updated 37 min ago
WASHINGTON, April 4 (Reuters) - A deal to spin off the U.S. assets of TikTok was put on hold after China indicated it would not approve the deal following President Donald Trump's tariffs announcement this week, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
Trump on Friday extended by 75 days a deadline for ByteDance to sell U.S. assets of the popular short video app to a non-Chinese buyer, or face a ban that was supposed to have taken effect in January under a 2024 law. The deal, the structure of which was largely finalized by Wednesday, according to one of the sources, would have spun off TikTok's U.S. operations into a new company based in the U.S. and majority-owned and operated by U.S. investors. ByteDance would hold a position of less than 20%.
The deal had been approved by existing investors, new investors, ByteDance and the U.S. government, the source said. The Chinese Embassy in Washington, asked about the status of a deal for TikTok, said in a statement: "China has stated its position on TikTok on multiple occasions.
China has always respected and protected the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises and opposed practices that violate the basic principles of the market economy." TikTok declined comment.The Associated Press was first to report China's disapproval.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/trump-tiktok-sale-deadline-looms-us-looks-deal-2025-04-04/
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