US and Chinese officials announced a framework agreement to transfer TikTok into US-controlled ownership, easing years of tension over security concerns. Treasury secretary Scott Bessent confirmed the commercial terms were agreed, though details remain private. Chinese negotiator Li Chenggang said both sides reached a consensus through cooperation.
The deal follows years of disputes over ByteDance’s control of TikTok. In 2024, President Biden gave ByteDance nine months to sell or face a ban, a deadline later extended by Donald Trump. Earlier acquisition efforts by Microsoft, Walmart, and Oracle collapsed, though Oracle remains TikTok’s US cloud provider.
Final details will be settled when Trump meets Chinese president Xi Jinping on Friday. Officials stressed no further extensions will be given. TikTok has about 135 million active users in the US, even as federal law bans the app on government devices.
