The United States and China are ready to move forward on a TikTok deal, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Bessent had already said last month that the two countries reached a framework on a deal during discussions in Madrid. President Donald Trump subsequently signed an executive order to facilitate the transaction.
In a Sunday morning appearance on CBS’s Face the Nation, Bessent said the U.S. and China have reached a final deal on TikTok. He stated that they reached one in Madrid and that as of today, all the details are ironed out. The transaction will be for the two leaders to consummate on Thursday in Korea. Bessent declined to discuss the details of the agreement but added that his remit was to get the Chinese to agree to approve the transaction, a task he believes was successfully accomplished over the past two days.
Trump has repeatedly extended the deadline of a law that requires TikTok’s owner ByteDance to sell the app or see it banned in the United States. Under the terms of his executive order, TikTok’s U.S. operations will come under the control of a new board of directors. This includes its recommendation algorithm, source code, and content moderation. Oracle will become responsible for security operations.
Reported investors in the new joint venture include Oracle, led by Trump ally Larry Ellison, Fox Corp, Andreessen Horowitz, and Silver Lake Management. Fox’s participation was seemingly confirmed by Trump.
Bessent made his comments from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where Chinese and American trade negotiators also said they had reached a framework for an agreement over tariffs and other trade issues.
U.S. trade negotiator Jamieson Greer told reporters that rare earth minerals were covered in the discussion, though he did not specify how. China has said it will tighten export controls on those minerals, which are critical to the manufacture of semiconductors and other tech products. Greer stated that they talked about extending the truce, rare earths, and all kinds of topics.