Donald Trump has given Americans an update on TikTok's future in the country not long after China took steps to retaliate against the US' newest tariffs.
Donald Trump has issued a statement about whether TikTok will be banned in the US following an extension to see if the company could be sold.
Writing on his social media platform on Friday, Trump insisted progress had been made but more still needed to be done in the coming weeks.
Trump also defended to the global tariffs he unveiled earlier this week and China's response to them, calling the US' move necessary for good trade relations between the two countries.
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He said: "My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress. 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. 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!"
Time will tell if the US will be able to resolve the TikTok issue in another 2 and a half months.
As of Thursday (April 3), the president said that the US was 'very close' to securing a buyer of the app, however, he did not give details on who that may be.
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Speaking aboard Air Force One, Trump said 'multiple investors' were close to securing a deal, with reports of a number of potential buyers being in the frame.
Kelsey Chickering, principal analyst at Forrester, said that it was 'highly unlikely' that TikTok would 'go dark' again, as it did briefly in January, and that 'all signs point to a deal or another extension' if a seller isn't confirmed by the end of the next 75 days.
The whole issue initially arose when the US government passed a law demanding that ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, sell the platform due to national security concerns.
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The fear was that Beijing could use the app to harvest data about American citizens or use it to influence individuals in America. China has denied both of these accusations.
Topics: China, Donald Trump, TikTok, US News, Politics, Social Media
Gerrard Kaonga