China halts TikTok deal over tariffs: report

As the United States came close to making a deal with Chinese-owned TikTok to spin off its US operations into a new company owned by U.S. investors, the Chinese government said it wouldn’t agree to it, citing the Trump administration’s tariffs, according to a report. 

The deal had been approved by investors, the U.S. government and Chinese-owned ByteDance, TikTok’s owner, according to Reuters, citing two sources. 

ByteDance would keep a minority stake in TikTok under the deal. 

President Trump on Wednesday announced a 34% tariff on goods coming to the U.S. from China on top of a previously announced 20% tariff. 

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As the United States came close to making a deal with Chinese-owned TikTok to spin off its US operations into a new company owned by U.S. investors, the Chinese government said it wouldn’t agree to it, citing the Trump administration’s tariffs, accor (Robyn Beck / AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

TikTok faced a ban in the U.S. in January if it failed to divest to U.S. investors, but Trump extended the deadline when he came into office and extended it again on Friday. 

“My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress,” he wrote on Truth Social on Friday. “The Deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed, which is why I am signing an Executive Order to keep TikTok up and running for an additional 75 days.”

President Trump on Wednesday announced a 34% tariff on goods coming to the U.S. from China on top of a previously announced 20% tariff.  (Win McNamee/Getty Images / Getty Images)

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He added, “We hope to continue working in Good Faith with China, who I understand are not very happy about our Reciprocal Tariffs (Necessary for Fair and Balanced Trade between China and the U.S.A.!). This proves that Tariffs are the most powerful Economic tool, and very important to our National Security! We do not want TikTok to ‘go dark.’ We look forward to working with TikTok and China to close the Deal. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

China on Friday announced retaliatory 34% tariffs on the U.S. (Ton Molina/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

China on Friday announced retaliatory 34% tariffs on the U.S.

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Trump has said he would be willing to negotiate on tariffs if China agrees to the ByteDance deal. 

Reuters contributed to this report.