Donald Trump says China tariffs could hinge on TikTok deal

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President Donald Trump said tariffs on China could hinge on a deal over ownership of TikTok, as he plans to keep the popular short-form video platform online for 75 days in the US. signed an executive order for

Within hours of that Opening on MondayTrump has postponed a deadline by which TikTok’s Chinese parent ByteDance must sell its stake in the app or face a ban in the country.

Trump said the US should be entitled to half tiktokIf the app continues to operate beyond that cut-off and he “certainly” could impose tariffs on China if it reneges on a deal, which he said would be an “adverse act.”

He said the duty could be as high as 100 percent. “Finally [Beijing] It will approve because we will impose tariffs on China,” Trump Dr. when signing the order. “I’m not saying I will, but you certainly can.”

China is one of three countries Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on on his first day in office. On Monday he said 25 percent duty may be imposed February 1 in Canada and Mexico.

But he has not implemented a 60 percent tariff on Chinese imports as promised during the campaign, which would mark a new phase in the trade war with Beijing during his first term.

The move to suspend tariffs against China appeared to offer a bargaining chip for a TikTok deal. Trump Talked with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Friday and said he had raised the TikTok issue, although Beijing did not confirm the discussion.

TikTok became temporarily unavailable to its nearly 170 million US users at midnight Sunday after an initial deadline under the “Divest or Ban” law, but it Service resumes after hours.

The executive order states that companies that distribute and host TikTok — which includes Apple and Google as well as cloud provider Oracle — will not be liable for violations of the law during the 75-day extension. Under the law, service providers risk fines of up to $5,000 per user.

But Tom Cotton, the Republican head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, warned the companies on Sunday that they risked “catastrophic bankruptcy” by violating the law.

TikTok chief executive Shou Ji Chiu went on a charm offensive after hinting during his campaign that he hoped to “save” the app.

Chiu attended the opening Along with the tech billionaires Sitting next to Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg and Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence, drew criticism from some observers.

Many US politicians and security officials believe the Chinese government could use TikTok to access Americans’ private information, which could facilitate espionage and use the app’s algorithms to spread propaganda. TikTok has denied that Beijing has any control over the app.

TikTok also said the investment was not technically possible within the law’s time frame. Beijing has indicated it opposes a sale.

Still, Trump suggested that for the app to continue operating, the United States should pay “half of the value of TikTok,” adding: “If I don’t do the deal, it’s worthless. If I do the deal, it could be worth a trillion dollars.” “

Last week, the Financial Times reported Chinese officials who were discussing using Mask, a close confidant of Trump, as a broker for the potential sale of TikTok’s US operations. On Monday, Musk met with Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng, who attended Trump’s inauguration.

He also to call TikTok’s presence in the US – while Western platforms such as its social media site X are banned in China – is “unbalanced”, adding that “something needs to change”.

Beijing did not immediately respond to Trump’s comments by threatening tariffs if TikTok did not agree to the deal.

On Monday, China’s foreign ministry said any decision regarding TikTok’s ownership should be made “according to market principles and determined by the companies themselves”.

Additional reporting by Aimee Williams in Washington