Donald Trump’s government warned that the application will stop operating in US territory if Beijing does not enable the control transfer to local hands.
The future of Tiktok in USA It is suspended again. He Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnicksaid the platform will be prohibited in the country if China does not authorize a sales agreement Let your control in American hands.
“There can be no Chinese control in 170 million American phones,” said Lutnick in an interview with CNBC, referring to the Tiktok active users base in the USA. As explained, the government of Donald Trump requires that Americans be the ones who control technology and, especially, the algorithm which governs the operation of the app.
The pressure intensifies as the deadline established by law is approaching: September 17. By then, Tiktok’s parent company, La China Bytedancemust have detached from its operations in the United States, or otherwise it will face the total suspension of its activity in the country.
What proposes the United States
In the event that Beijing gives the green light to the operation, China or Bytedance could conserve a minority participation in a new company controlled by American investors. If there is no agreement, “Tiktok will turn off, and those decisions will arrive very soon,” Lutnick warned.
The legislation that establishes this obligation was approved in 2024 and sought to force the Sale or closure from Tiktok unless significant advances were made. Although the original text established a previous date (January 19), Trump has already granted three extensions and set as a new date on September 17.
During the first months of the year, progress was made in a draft agreement to split Tiktok operations in the US and create a local company with a majority of US capital. But the conversations were pause when China rejected the planin the same context in which Trump announced New tariffs to Chinese products.
Democratic resistance and legal doubts
In parallel, Democratic legislators They question the president’s legal authority to extend the deadlines indefinitely and criticize that the current conditions of the agreement They do not meet the requirements stipulated by law.
From the White HouseHowever, they ensure that there are already “very wealthy people” interested in acquiring the American subsidiary of the application. However, the private capital firm Blackstoneone of the interested parties, recently retired from negotiationsaccording to Reuters.
For now, Tiktok did not issue official comments about the latest statements by the Secretary of Commerce.
Source: Ambito
