The United States and China have agreed on preliminary terms for transferring TikTok under American control.
The final details are expected to be confirmed on Friday during a phone call between Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, American officials said.
According to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the deadline set for Wednesday, which threatened to block the popular app in America, pushed the Chinese side to conclude an agreement. He noted that if necessary, the deadline could be extended for another three months to finalize the deal. The minister declined to disclose the details of the agreement.
Bessent explained that while maintaining the commercial terms, key points insisted on by Beijing, including the so-called “Chinese characteristics” of TikTok, will be taken into account. “For them, this is a question of soft power and national identity. We are primarily interested in the security of the country,” he told reporters after the talks in Madrid.
This is the second attempt by the parties to agree on the fate of TikTok in 2025. In March, an agreement was also announced soon, but then everything ended in vain. Now, if a deal is reached, it will have to be approved by Congress, where the Republican majority is. Let us recall that last year, it passed a law requiring limiting the participation of Chinese capital in such projects due to the risk of transferring user data to Beijing.
The Trump administration, however, is avoiding drastic steps like forcibly closing the application – this could cause discontent among millions of users and complicate political communication, including the work of the White House. The question remains whether the parent company ByteDance is ready to completely transfer key technologies to the American buyer.
Trump on his Truth Social platform has already called the negotiations “very successful” and emphasized that an agreement has been reached on the company “that young people in the United States so wanted to save.” According to him, on Friday he will personally discuss this with Chairman Xi and is confident that the relations between the two countries “remain strong.”
The meeting in Madrid was the fourth round of US-China talks in the past four months. Delegations led by Bessent and Vice Premier He Lifeng are trying to ease tensions in trade relations that have led to higher tariffs and problems with the supply of rare earth metals. US Trade Representative Jamison Greer called the TikTok deal a “sign of goodwill” and noted that the parties were able to quickly outline key differences and move closer to a solution.
Nevertheless, negotiations are ongoing. Trump has repeatedly said he wants to meet with Xi in person, and Beijing is trying to invite him to China for a summit. The leaders may make a final decision on this as early as Friday.
At the same time, as sources note, the US is ready to insist on blocking TikTok if China does not soften its position on trade and technology restrictions. Bessent stressed that “no one is going to sacrifice national security for the sake of a social network.” The talks also touched on other issues, including China’s policy on purchasing Russian oil. Washington is demanding import duties from its allies, which Beijing called “coercion.” In addition, on the same day, Chinese authorities announced an investigation into Nvidia, accusing the company of violating antitrust laws. The U.S. viewed this as a response to earlier restrictions on Chinese chipmakers.
