Trump extends TikTok deadline as China blocks deal, investors sue

UPDATE: President Trump has extended the deadline requiring ByteDance to sell its U.S. TikTok operation or shut it down. An angry China reportedly blocked the deal and a group of U.S. investors threaten to complicate it further.

TikTok has about 170 million U.S. users. 

Trump extends TikTok deadline again

“My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress,” Trump wrote on Truth Social post. “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.”

This is the second time that extended the deadline for the sale of TikTok in the US. The app tried to challenge the ban, but the Supreme Court upheld it in the final days of the Biden administration. 

China says no

“An agreement has not been executed,” ByteDance said in a statement. “There are key matters to be resolved.”

Beijing reportedly blocked the deal Thursday after Trump announced global tariffs, including against China. ByteDance representatives told the White House that China would not approve a deal until there could be negotiations about trade and tariffs, according to an AP source.

New Lawsuit Could Complicate Any Deal

Investors are seeking at $58 billion in damages from ByteDance, TikTok, and ByteDance founder Yiming Zhang, who it accuses of a conspiracy to maintain control over TikTok’s U.S. operations in violation of antitrust laws.

TikTok Global, which was formed by a group American investors to acquire the social media platform’s U.S, operations, claims ByteDance deliberately thwarted its efforts.

“Plaintiff would soon discover, the game was rigged from the start because ByteDance had other plans, plans that circumvented proper procedures, stifled competition and maintained ByteDance’s control over TikTok’s U.S. operations — all under the guise of compliance with the executive order,” TikTok Global claims in its lawsuit.

Bruce Houghton is the Founder and Editor of Hypebot, a Senior Advisor at Bandsintown, a Berklee College Of Music professor and founder of the Skyline Artists Agency

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