INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
United States President Donald Trump stated he would extend the June 19 deadline for China-based ByteDance to divest the United States
possessions of TikTok, the brief video app utilized by 170 million Americans, if no deal had been reached already
I d like to see it done, Trump informed the NBC News program Meet journalism with Kristen Welker in an interview taped on Friday at
Trumps Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, that is airing across the United States on Sunday.Trump said he had a sweet spot for the
app after it helped him win over young citizens in the 2024 governmental election, including, TikTok is its very fascinating, but it will
Trump has actually already twice granted a reprieve from enforcement of a congressionally mandated restriction on TikTok that was initially
due to work in January.A deal had remained in the works that would spin off TikToks United States operations into a new company based in the
United States and majority-owned and operated by United States financiers, however it was put on hold after China indicated it would not
authorize it following Trumps statements of high tariffs on Chinese goods.Democratic senators argue that Trump has no legal authority to
extend the due date and suggest that the offer that had been under factor to consider would not satisfy legal requirements.One source near
to ByteDances United States financiers said last month that deal with the prospective offer continues ahead of the June 19 due date, but the
White House and Beijing would need to solve the tariff disagreement first.Trump told NBC News that China was eager to reach an agreement,
mentioning the effect that 145 percent tariffs on Chinese goods were having on its economy.He stated he would not drop the tariffs to get
Beijing to the bargaining table however might ultimately lower them as part of a more comprehensive agreement
At some point, Im going to reduce them due to the fact that otherwise, you could never ever do business with them
And they wish to work quite, he said.The law needed TikTok to stop operating by January 19 unless ByteDance had actually completed a
divestiture of the apps United States assets
Trump started his second term as president on January 20 and opted not to impose it
He initially extended the due date to early April, and then once again last month to June 19
Bytedance stated in early April that the business is still in negotiations with the United States government, stressing no contract has
been reached due to unresolved essential issues
The statement was made via the businesss main Weibo account and reiterated that any potential deal must comply with Chinese legal evaluation
procedures.(With input from Reuters)
