Donald Trump says there is a Tiktok deal. Not China
US efforts to ban Tiktok in the first period of Trump began in 2020. Months before leaving the official, Trump threatened to ban Tiktok and another Chinese program. The Biden government canceled Trump’s executive orders on the matter, but continued to review Tiktok. In April 2024, the US Congress finally protected the law -controlled programs (PAFACA). These two options gave Tikutok: of their Chinese ownership before January 19, 2025, or endanger a federal ban.
The program was briefly darkened in the United States before the deadline, then appeared in the app stores less than 24 hours later and resumed services to US users.
Since Trump’s return to power, Washington’s position on Tiktok has changed. Trump has become a fixed defender to save the program, which he helped to support young voters. He has repeatedly renewed the deadline set by PAFACA law, recently set up until December 16, 2025, which some experts have criticized illegally.
“A deal by the Trump administration can meet the requirements set by PAFACA law,” says Alan Rosenne, an assistant professor of law at the University of Law at the University of Minnesota. But the reality remains that the deadline has been extended several times, and US companies such as Oracle and Apple have not been fined for continuing services.
“How the law is written, companies were responsible for trading with Tiktok, up to $ 5,000 per US user,” he said. So if there are 170 million Tiktok users [in the US]And all of them have used this platform for the past nine months, and each of these operating systems and each of these companies potentially have up to $ 1 trillion responsibility. “
Some experts in Washington believe that these agreements do not solve the perceived national security that has made the ban on the first place. “Simply put, changing ownership without technical separation is a violation of the law,” says Craig Singleton, a senior partner of the Defense Defense Foundation based in DC. He compares the transaction with “shared custody” instead of “divorce” that Pafaca’s law needed.
The Chinese government has emphasized in a recent statement that the deal will include US privileges on non -Tikktuk issues, such as border investment barriers. “The US side should provide a Chinese investor,” the US side should provide an open, fair and non -discriminatory environment for Chinese investors. “
If Beijing exchanges Tiktok for better business conditions, they may lose too much and its original investors may lose. “It’s not great,” says Rui Ma, founder of Tech Buzz China, a research company focused on Chinese technology. “It is still better than closing and losing completely. It is probably like the C-Minus result.”
Update 9/19/25 6:00 PM ET: This story has been updated to include a statement sent by byTedance.
