President Donald Trump on Tuesday again delayed a US ban on TikTok from taking effect, as a possible deal to save the app in America takes shape.
It is the fourth time since January that Mr Trump has delayed the ban against the Chinese-owned app's use in the US. Congress last year approved a ban unless TikTok's owner ByteDance divested from the popular video-sharing app in America.
Mr Trump on Monday said a deal was in the works and that he would be speaking to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday. The new delay on the ban runs until December 16.
Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Trump said he had “a deal on TikTok” but declined to name the companies involved.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that the deal was similar to the commercial terms that had been negotiated earlier in the year, and indicated that he believed Mr Trump and Mr Xi would finalise the deal this week.
“This deal wouldn’t be done without proper safeguards for US national security,” Mr Bessent said. “It seems as though we were also able to meet the Chinese interest.”
TikTok’s US operations would be controlled by a group including Oracle, Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
Congress banned TikTok last year amid fears that user data could be compromised by Chinese authorities. TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chew has repeatedly denied the accusations and insists data is secure.
The US House Select Committee on China, chaired by Republican Representative John Moolenaar, responded to the TikTok deal extension announcement with a post on X (formerly Twitter.)
"A TikTok deal must prohibit any algorithms or operational relationships with ByteDance," the Republican controlled committee which has been a frequent critic of TikTok posted on Tuesday.
The National's Cody Combs contributed to this report.
