- Deal maintains Tiktok operating in the United States under the ownership of the United States.
- Bytedance to maintain the largest participation at 19.9%.
- The agreement should end in 30 to 45 days, reports CNBC.
President Donald Trump announced an agreement between the United States and China to keep Tiktok operating in the United States on Tuesday, three sources familiar with the issue saying that the agreement was similar to that discussed earlier this year.
The agreement requires that Tiktok ‘American assets be transferred to the American owners of China, potentially resolving a saga that has persisted for almost a year.
An agreement for the popular application of social media, which has 170 million American users, would represent a breakthrough in talks of several months between the two largest economies as they seek to defuse a large trade war that has upset the world markets.
“We have an agreement on Tiktok … We have a group of very large companies who want to buy it,” said Trump in a White House briefing, without providing more details. The announcement one day comes before a deadline of September 17 to sell or close the short video application.
Later in the day, the White House extended this deadline until December 16. The White House refused to provide other details on the agreement with China.
The delay will give Bytedance still 90 days to finalize an agreement to transfer American assets of Tiktok to American owners, which suggests that a lot of work must be done to conclude the complex transaction.
The American entity will have a board of directors dominated by the United States, reported the Wall Street Journal, with a member appointed by the United States government.
The idea takes a page of a recent national security agreement signed by the Trump administration which allowed Nippon Steel to buy US Steel after allowing the United States to appoint a member of the board of directors, in addition to having a part of gold.
Any agreement may require the approval of the congress controlled by the Republican, which adopted a law in 2024 during the Biden administration which required the divestment of Tiktok because of fear that its US user data will be accessible by the Chinese government, allowing Beijing to spy on the Americans or to carry out influence operations through the application.
The bases of the New Deal, also similar to April, understand that Bytedance will keep the largest participation at 19.9%, just under the 20% threshold of the law, said two of the sources.
Although the general terms should remain the same, the sources said that they did not know what exactly the final agreement would look like, given the potential for last minute changes.
US Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, said on Tuesday that the commercial conditions of the agreement had been carried out since around March, with only a few details to iron.
“This agreement would not be done without appropriate guarantees for American national security,” said Bessent. “It seems that we were also able to respond to Chinese interest.”
CNBC said on Tuesday that the agreement should be concluded in the next 30 to 45 days and that the agreement will include existing investors in the parent based in Tiktok, Bytedance and new investors.
The details comply with Reuters reports in April that the agreement would turn the US Tiktok operations in a new company based in the United States and belonging to the majority and operated by American investors.
The International Group Susquehanna by Jeff Yass, General Atlantic, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Sequoia Capital are among the American donors.
The Trump administration has refused to enforce the law because of the concerns that it would anger the huge base of users of Tiktok and disrupt political communications, rather extending the deadline for disinvestment three times.
Trump, who credited Tiktok for helping him win the re -election last year and has 15 million followers on his personal account, should extend the deadline for the fourth time. The White House also launched an official Tiktok account last month.
Prices and Tiktok
An agreement for Tiktok, which had been in progress in the spring, was suspended after China said that it would not approve it following Trump prices ads on Chinese products.
Washington said Tiktok’s property by Bytedance reports to the Chinese government.
But the company said that US officials had disturbed its links with China, arguing that its content recommendation engine and its user data are stored in the United States on cloud servers operated by Oracle, while content decisions that affect American users are also taken in the United States
CNBC reported Tuesday that Oracle will retain its Cloud Agreement with Tiktok. Reuters reported earlier this year that the White House worked on a plan to operate Oracle, as well as a group of external investors, to control the operations of the application.
As part of the plan, Oracle would have been responsible for solving national security problems, Reuters reported.
Oracle Actions made gains on Tuesday after the news and was the last up 1%.
A framework agreement was concluded on Monday by officials from both countries. Friday, a final confirmation of the agreement is expected in a call between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Trump said in March that his administration was in contact with four different groups on the sale of Tiktok. Microsoft, Amazon, billionaire Frank McCourt and a consortium led by the founder of Onlyfans were among bidders, according to reports.
