U.S. and Chinese officials said Monday they had reached a framework agreement to shift short-video app TikTok to U.S.-controlled ownership, a breakthrough in months of tense trade talks.
The deal, expected to be confirmed during a call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday, aims to resolve U.S. national security concerns over the app’s 170 million American users.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, after two days of talks with Chinese negotiators in Madrid, said a looming September 17 divestiture deadline pushed Beijing to agree to a framework. He added that the deadline could be extended by 90 days to finalize terms.
“When the commercial details are revealed, they will preserve cultural aspects of TikTok that China values, while addressing our national security concerns,” Bessent told reporters.
Trump confirmed he would discuss the agreement directly with Xi, adding: “We haven’t decided [on China’s stake], but it looks to me like a strong deal.”
The U.S. Congress, which passed a 2024 law mandating TikTok’s divestiture from parent company ByteDance, will likely need to approve any final agreement. Lawmakers have warned that Beijing could exploit TikTok for surveillance or influence campaigns, a charge China denies.
China’s chief trade negotiator Li Chenggang described the outcome as a “basic framework consensus,” but criticized Washington for “unilateral bullying” in its broader tech restrictions.
The Madrid meeting marked the fourth round of U.S.-China trade talks since May, amid tariff battles, semiconductor export bans, and disputes over Chinese purchases of Russian oil.
