Muhammed Selim Korkutata | Anadolu | Getty Images
President Donald Trump said he may reduce tariffs on China to facilitate a deal that would result in ByteDance selling the U.S. operations of TikTok.
China “is going to have to play a role” in approving a TikTok-related divestiture, Trump said in a press conference Wednesday.
“Maybe I’ll give them a little reduction in tariffs or something to get it done,” Trump said. “TikTok is big, but every point in tariffs is worth more than TikTok.”
Although a national security law requires ByteDance to divest TikTok’s U.S. operations or face an effective ban in the country, Trump in January signed an executive order that delayed the deadline for a deal to April 5. Trump has previously said that he wants the U.S. to maintain a 50% ownership position in TikTok via a joint venture.
It’s possible he will extend the TikTok deadline again, Trump said Wednesday.
“We’re going to have a form of a deal, but if it’s not finished, it’s not a big deal,” Trump said.
“We’ll just extend it.”
Vice President JD Vance told NBC News earlier this month that he was confident that a TikTok-related deal would happen by the April deadline.
“There will almost certainly be a high-level agreement that I think satisfies our national security concerns, allows there to be a distinct American TikTok enterprise,” Vance said.
WATCH: TikTok bid is ‘in active dialogue’ with Trump administration.
