Trump Says TikTok Deal Was Close, but China Changed Due to Tariffs

US President Donald Trump stated that a deal on TikTok was close. However, he stated that China changed its mind due to tariffs.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump stated that if he had offered a tariff reduction, China would have approved the agreement in 15 minutes.

When asked about a report that there was about to be a TikTok deal but China changed its mind, Trump said, "The report is that we had a deal, pretty much for Tiktok, not a deal, but pretty close, and then China changed the deal because of tariffs. If I reduced tariffs slightly, they would approve the deal in 15 minutes, demonstrating the power of tariffs."

Last week, Trump announced that China would face a 34% tariff. Following Trump's announcement, China announced that it would impose reciprocal 34% tariffs on all US imports on April 10, according to CNN.

Donald Trump announced on Friday that his administration was working on a deal to "save TikTok" and that he would sign an executive order to keep the app operational for another 75 days.

Sharing a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump wrote, "My administration has been working extremely hard on a deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made incredible progress. The deal requires additional work to ensure that all necessary approvals are obtained, which is why I am issuing an Executive Order to keep TikTok operational for an additional 75 days."

Trump expressed hope that negotiations with China would continue in "good faith," acknowledging China's dissatisfaction with the US reciprocal tariffs. He defended the tariffs as necessary to ensure fair and balanced trade between the two countries. Trump emphasised that the goal was to keep TikTok from "going dark."

"We hope to continue working in good faith with China, who I understand are dissatisfied with our reciprocal tariffs (essential for fair and balanced trade between China and the United States!). This demonstrates that tariffs are the most effective economic tool and critical to our national security! We don't want TikTok "going dark." We look forward to working with TikTok and China to complete the transaction. Thank you for your attention to this matter," he further said in a post on Truth Social.

According to CNN, Trump's announcement came just one day before the ban was scheduled to go into effect, after initially delaying it by 75 days when he took office in January.

Last year, former US President Joe Biden signed legislation mandating that TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, based in China, sell the app or face a ban in the United States due to national security concerns.

While the law was supposed to go into effect in January, Trump announced that he would postpone it in order to reach an agreement that would keep the app "alive."

 ByteDance spokesperson stated that the TikTok parent company "has been in discussion with the US government regarding a potential solution for TikTok US."

A ByteDance spokesperson stated, "An agreement has not been executed. There are important issues to be resolved. Any agreement will need to be approved under Chinese law.