US treasury secretary anticipates final TikTok deal after Trump, Xi talk

US treasury secretary anticipates final TikTok deal after Trump, Xi talk

Scott Bessent says China presented a long list of demands during talks this week in Madrid.

tiktok
The US president has made it clear he would let TikTok, which has 170 million US users, go dark without a deal to switch to US-controlled ownership. (Freepik pic)
WASHINGTON:
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said today that he anticipated a final deal on the short-video app TikTok when President Donald Trump speaks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Friday.

“China had a long list of asks during talks this week in Madrid,” Bessent said.

He described the negotiations as fulsome and conducted with great respect.

Yesterday, the two sides said they have reached a framework agreement after months of talks between the world’s No 1 and No 2 economies to defuse a wide-ranging trade war that has unnerved global markets.

Bessent said Trump made it clear he would let TikTok, which counts 170 million US users, go dark without a deal to switch to US-controlled ownership.

However, Trump has extended the deadline to reach a deal on the app three times and was expected to do so a fourth time on the upcoming Wednesday deadline.

“Details on the commercial terms with new investors need to be ironed out,” Bessent said, declining to elaborate.

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