The 75-day deadline for TikTok to reach a deal with U.S. companies is up on June 19.

On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested he would extend the deadline for TikTok to sever ties with its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, in order to continue operating in the United States.

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On April 4, Trump granted TikTok a final 75-day extension to reach an agreement with U.S. companies that would allow it to separate from ByteDance. That deadline is set to expire on June 19.

Speaking aboard Air Force One, Trump said he believes a deal will be finalized in time and that his Chinese counterpart will ultimately sign off on it. Asked about the possible extension, Trump said, “Probably yes, yes… We’ll probably have to get China’s approval, but I think we’ll get it. I believe President Xi will ultimately approve it.”

Trump has previously said he has a “soft spot for TikTok,” claiming the app contributed to his victory in the 2024 election by boosting his approval among young voters.

“To do it right, we’ll probably need China’s approval. China is never easy, but I think, yes, we’ll be able to save TikTok. I’d like to save TikTok. I mean, TikTok treated me very well. I won over young people by 37 percentage points,” he said during a White House event in May.

Under former Democratic President Joe Biden (2021–2025), the previous Congress passed a law requiring TikTok to find an investor from a country not deemed a “national adversary” by Jan. 20, when Trump took office. With no agreement reached by the deadline, the app briefly ceased operations in the U.S. until Trump, on his first day back in the White House, signed an executive order granting an initial 75-day extension, which he later extended in April.

During his first term, Trump had initially sought to ban the platform but changed his stance during his latest campaign, arguing that TikTok serves as a competitor to Meta’s social media platforms, owned by Mark Zuckerberg. ByteDance took its legal battle to the U.S. Supreme Court to fight the ban, while the U.S. government argued that the app could pose a national security threat—a concern American authorities have raised for years.

In a second attempt at a deal, White House officials believed they were close to an agreement, but negotiations fell apart after China withdrew from the talks following Trump’s announcement of new tariffs.

“We had a deal with TikTok—well, not a deal, but we were very close—and then China backed out because of the tariffs. If I had slightly reduced the tariffs, they would have approved the deal in 15 minutes, which shows the power of tariffs,” Trump told reporters at the time.

On April 2—dubbed “Liberation Day”—Trump announced a minimum 10% tariff on all imports, with Chinese imports facing a 34% tariff. China responded with a similar measure on U.S. products. These reciprocal tariffs between the two powers have since increased multiple times.

Recently, both countries reached a tariff truce in Geneva. The agreement includes a 55% U.S. tariff on Chinese goods and a 10% Chinese tariff on U.S. products, according to Trump. However, Beijing has not explicitly confirmed the deal.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

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