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TikTok's US deal is in trouble. Photo: Nurphoto . |
TikTok, the popular short -video platform owned by Chinese company ByteDance, is facing a possible ban in the US when its contract expires in September. However, the app could face an earlier shutdown if a deal is not reached.
When he took office, Trump claimed that only he could reach a deal that would allow the app to continue operating in the United States despite national security concerns. Now, that task has fallen to Vice President JD Vance. After months of negotiations, the United States appears to have failed to find terms that the Chinese government is willing to accept.
Trump’s Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed that the administration is prepared to shut down TikTok if China doesn’t approve the latest version of the deal, which could happen very soon.
Under the deal that Mr. Trump is pushing, “China, or Bytedance, the current parent company, could keep a small stake,” Mr. Lutnick said. “Essentially, the Americans would control and own the technology and the algorithms.”
The requests come amid concerns that China is using TikTok to spy on or manipulate U.S. citizens. ByteDance has long argued that the U.S. can address national security concerns without forcing a sale.
At the World Economic Forum in January, Bill Ford, a ByteDance board member, said an alternative to selling TikTok could be to transfer control of its U.S. operations to an independent domestic entity, which would allow the government to ensure TikTok complies with U.S. laws without having to sell the app or algorithm.
At this point, Lutnick said, the US is unwilling to budge on its demand for control over the recommendation algorithm, which is what makes TikTok so popular globally and is considered the app’s core intellectual property.
Trump said in early July that he was not confident China would agree to the deal, despite calling it a favorable proposal. Some analysts believe that China sees TikTok as a bargaining chip in its tariff negotiations with Trump, and will try to hold out until it gets significant concessions from the US.
Currently, the US and China are maintaining a 90-day agreement to postpone the sale of TikTok, which is expected to end in August. Recently, Sean Stein, President of the US-China Business Council, commented that it is almost inevitable that the two sides will continue to extend it, showing that there is still a long way to go to reach an agreement.
According to Ars Technica , Minister Lutnick's statement does not rule out the possibility of forcing China to make concessions before the September deadline. Through that, he also implicitly showed that Mr. Trump was unable to complete the agreement as he initially committed.
TikTok fans and Americans who rely on the platform for their livelihoods are in a precarious situation, knowing that the platform could shut down as early as in the coming weeks. According to multiple reports, there are currently about 170 million Americans who use TikTok every month.
Source: https://znews.vn/tiktok-co-the-lai-bi-my-cam-cua-post1571537.html
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