TikTok in the US: An agreement is nearing to resolve the dispute
The United States and China have agreed on a “framework” for an agreement on the TikTok app, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on Monday, on the second day of trade negotiations between the two countries in Madrid.
“The framework of the agreement is for (TikTok) to switch to a U.S.-controlled property, but that will have to be confirmed by the leaders on Friday. We put a framework, they will have to confirm the agreement,” Bessent said in reference to the call between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.
“We are not going to talk about the commercial terms of the agreement because it is between two private parties, but the commercial terms have already been agreed,” Bessent added in statements to the media in Madrid outside the headquarters of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he met with the Chinese delegation.
Minutes before Bessent’s statements, President Trump announced on his social network an agreement that was going to “delight” young Americans.
Trump had set a deadline of September 17 for TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell the social network’s subsidiary in the US, as he did not approve of the Beijing government being able to have access to the data of millions of citizens.
Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer explained that the pact has been possible thanks to Trump’s intervention and the “great regard he has for President Xi,” because “when they have respect for each other, delegations also respect each other.”
In turn, Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Li Chenggang confirmed the agreement reached with the United States and assured that it is “of mutual interest” and that it is based on cooperation and respect between the parties.
“The reason why the Chinese side accepted a consensus on TikTok is because, based on our assessment, we concluded that such a consensus is in mutual interest,” Li said at a press conference during his visit to Madrid.
The deputy director of the Cyberspace Administration of China, Wang Jingtao, explained that the delegations reached a “basic consensus” on TikTok regarding “the entrusted operation of TikTok’s U.S. user data and quantum security business, as well as algorithm license reviews and other intellectual property rights.”
Thus, he reported that the Chinese government will examine “relevant issues” in this matter, such as the export of technology and the authorized use of intellectual property of TikTok, according to the law.
The pact would be finalized in a call on Friday between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
