United States President Donald Trump says he would be willing to reduce tariff rates on China to secure a deal with TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell the social media app used by 170 million Americans.
“With respect to TikTok, and China is going to have to play a role in that, possibly in the form of an approval, maybe, and I think they’ll do that. Maybe I’ll give them a little reduction in tariffs or something to get it done,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday.
Trump’s proposal came as he announced a 25 percent tariff on imported cars and car parts – his latest salvo in a widening trade war that has stoked tensions with partners and allies.
Earlier this month, Trump increased additional tariffs on all imports from China to 20 percent, up from 10 percent issued in February.
Under US law, ByteDance was required to divest from TikTok by January 19 or risk a ban. However, Trump granted a 75-day grace period, which is set to expire on April 5.
Trump has said he is willing to extend the deadline again if an agreement over the social media app is not reached.
Former President Joe Biden signed the ban-or-sale law into effect last April. US lawmakers fear that the Chinese government could gain access to vast amounts of personal data through TikTok and use the platform to exert political influence.
Republican leaders have been pushing for its ban, dubbing it a national security threat even before the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023. Mike Gallagher, a former US congressman and current Palantir executive, introduced a bill in 2023 to ban TikTok.
“So we had a bipartisan consensus,” Gallagher said at the Munich Security Conference last month. “We had the executive branch, but the bill was still dead until October 7th. And people started to see a bunch of anti-Semitic content on the platform and our bill had legs again.”
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