Open the White House Watch newsletter for free
Your guide to what the 2024 US elections mean for Washington and the world
President Donald Trump said tariffs on China could hinge on an agreement on ownership of TikTok, as he signed an executive order to keep the popular short-form online video platform in the US for 75 days.
Within hours of it Opening on MondayTrump postponed the deadline requiring TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell its stake in the app or face a ban in the country.
Trump said the United States “should have the right to get half.” Tik TokIf the app continues to work after this moratorium, he said he could “absolutely” impose tariffs on China if it rejects the deal, which he said would be a “hostile act.”
Trump added that tariffs could reach 100 percent. “I think (Beijing) will eventually agree to it because we will impose tariffs on China.” Trump He said when signing the order in the Oval Office. “I'm not saying I'll do it, but you sure can do it.”
The executive order said the 75-day reprieve for the “recall or ban” rule was designed “to allow the (Trump) administration an opportunity to determine the appropriate course of action with respect to TikTok.”
It also stated that the companies that distribute and host TikTok — which include Apple and Google's app stores as well as cloud provider Oracle — will not be held liable for violating the law in the meantime. Under the law, service providers risk fines of $5,000 per user.
TikTok became temporarily unavailable to about 170 million US users when the ban went into effect at midnight on Sunday, after the Supreme Court upheld the law on Friday.
But it is Service hours will resume at a later dateThe company said that Trump had provided sufficient assurances that service providers would not face penalties.
TikTok CEO Xu Ziqiu launched a charm attack after Trump suggested during the campaign that he hoped to “save” the app. On Monday, Chiu attended the opening ceremony Along with tech billionaires Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, after heaping public praise on Trump over the weekend.
Some US politicians and security officials believe the Chinese government could use TikTok to access Americans' personal information, potentially facilitating espionage, and using the app's algorithm to spread propaganda. TikTok denies that Beijing has any control over the app.
TikTok has previously said that divestment is not technologically feasible within the law's time frame. Beijing has indicated it opposes the sale.
However, Trump suggested that if the app continued to operate in the US after the extended deadline, the country should be paid “half the value of TikTok,” adding: “If I don't do the deal, it's worthless. If I do the deal, it's probably worth a trillion dollars.” “.
last week, The Financial Times reported Chinese officials were discussing using Musk, who is close to Trump, as an intermediary in a potential sale of TikTok's US operations.
Caught on Sunday He complained about the “unbalanced” situation. Between TikTok's continued presence in the US and its social media site X not being accessible in China, where Western tech platforms are generally blocked. “Something needs to change,” he said.
The Tesla CEO rarely comments on issues sensitive to Beijing, given his extensive business interests in China, an important market and production center for his electric car company.
Beijing did not immediately respond to Trump's comments threatening to impose tariffs if it did not approve the TikTok deal.
China's Foreign Ministry said on Monday that any decision regarding TikTok ownership should be made “in accordance with market principles and determined by the companies themselves.”
Additional reporting by Amy Williams in Washington
