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.
“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.
Bessent said talks on other issues would continue in the coming weeks. The Treasury Department previously said it would raise issues, including China's purchase of Russian oil and its financial support for Russia's war efforts.
Beijing separately announced on Sept. 15 that a preliminary investigation of Nvidia had found that the U.S. chip giant had violated its anti-monopoly law, a move seen as retaliation against U.S. technology export controls.
Bessent said the announcement on Nvidia was poor timing.
Trump said he will be speaking with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Sept. 19, noting that the relationship “remains a very strong one.”
Both Beijing and Washington said ahead of the trade talks that TikTok's future will top the agenda.
After then-U.S. President Joe Biden signed the TikTok divest-or-ban law, the firm’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, was given until Jan. 19—the last day of Biden’s term—to divest itself of the popular social media app. A court granted a delay, given that Trump was assuming office the day after the deadline.
Since then, Trump has extended the divestiture deadline several times.