U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an order extending the deadline for TikTok to divest from ByteDance in the U.S. until December 16.
“We have an agreement on TikTok. There’s a group of major U.S. companies that want to acquire this app,” Trump said during a press conference at the White House on September 16. However, he did not provide further details about the deal, according to Reuters.
Also on September 16, the White House announced the extension, giving TikTok in the U.S. additional time to divest from ByteDance until December 16. The delay provides ByteDance with 90 more days to complete the transfer of TikTok assets in the U.S.
According to the Wall Street Journal, a new entity will be established in the U.S. to operate TikTok, with a majority-U.S. board of directors, including one member appointed by the U.S. government.
Key terms of the new agreement allow ByteDance to retain a stake below 20%. The remaining 80% will be held by a consortium including current ByteDance shareholders such as Susquehanna International Group (SIG), General Atlantic, KKR, as well as new investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Oracle, and Silver Lake.
Previously, on September 15, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that the new deal “maintains most of the commercial terms previously agreed upon” and is expected to close within 30-45 days, involving existing ByteDance investors and some new ones.
“This agreement cannot be completed without U.S. national security safeguards. But it seems we have also addressed China’s interests,” Bessent said.
In a related development, on September 17, China called the framework agreement reached in Madrid, Spain on September 14 regarding the transfer of TikTok ownership to U.S. control a “mutually beneficial” deal. China also said it would review technology exports and intellectual property licensing for TikTok, according to an editorial in People’s Daily cited by Reuters.
“China’s consensus with the U.S. on TikTok is based on the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation,” People’s Daily wrote.
This marks the fourth time President Trump has extended the deadline for the U.S. TikTok divestment. Previously, immediately after taking office on January 20, he signed an executive order extending the deadline to April 5. The second extension added 75 more days (until June 19) to complete the U.S. TikTok deal. The third extension pushed the deadline again to September 17.
The U.S. requirement for ByteDance to sell TikTok stems from national security concerns. Although TikTok is a globally popular app, it is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance. The U.S. government worries that TikTok could collect data on American users and share it with the Chinese government, creating potential security and information risks.
Thus, the U.S. demanded that ByteDance divest TikTok, or the app would face a ban in the U.S. This is stipulated under the Protecting Americans from Foreign Apps Controlled Act (PAFACA), enacted by former President Joe Biden in April 2024, which requires TikTok to divest from its parent company ByteDance or face a complete ban in the U.S. before January 19, 2025.
According to TechCrunch, TikTok currently has 170 million users in the U.S. and is one of the country’s largest social media platforms. TikTok has become a source of entertainment and income for many American users, especially younger audiences.
