This is perhaps the last episode of a saga that has already lasted several months. After numerous failed attempts, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping are expected to finalize the details of the agreement that hands over Tiktok’s American operations to new shareholders.
“All the details are resolved”
“We (Donald Trump and Xi Jinping) reached an agreement in Madrid, and I believe that to date all the details have been settled. It will be up to the two leaders to close this transaction on Thursday,” he adds. In fact, the American president will meet with his Chinese counterpart on Thursday, October 30 in South Korea.
Under a law passed in 2024, the short video social network risks being banned in the United States if its parent company, ByteDance, does not transfer its platform to a non-Chinese owner. Washington is therefore demanding that the platform be sold by December 16, after a fourth extension of this deadline by Donald Trump.
After tough negotiations, on September 25, Donald Trump finally signed the decree specifying the transfer of American activities to the Chinese application. He plans for Tiktok to be under the American flag.
Scott Bessent refused to specify the content of the agreement between the leaders. “I am not involved in the commercial aspect of the transaction. My mission was to obtain approval from China and I think we have achieved that in the last two days,” he simply clarified.
A broader agreement
According to first information, the agreement provides for the creation of a new US entity in charge of operating the application. American investors, all close to Donald Trump, should own more than 80% of the shares and Chinese shareholders a little less than the remaining 20%. The transaction values the company at $14 billion, according to JD Vance, a former venture capitalist and U.S. vice president who led the team responsible for finding a solution for TikTok.
Tiktok’s operations in the United States, including its recommendation algorithm, source code and content moderation, will come under the control of a new board of directors. Oracle would become responsible for security operations.
This agreement on TikTok is part of a broader framework of trade negotiations between China and the United States. The two countries would also have agreed on customs duties, rare earths, soybeans and even the fentanyl crisis in the United States.
Source: BFM TV
