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SAN FRANCISCO: President Donald Trump repeated on Tuesday (September 2) his demand for a share of the stock of any sale of TikTok’s operations in the United States to force such a deal.
TikTok has been at the center of a diplomatic storm between Washington and Beijing, with Trump giving Americans a deadline to stop doing business with TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance, effectively forcing the app to be sold to a American company.
“Well, I told them they have until September 15 to make a deal; after that, we close in this country,” Trump told reporters.
“And I said that the United States has to be compensated, well compensated, because we are the ones who are making it possible, so we must be compensated.”
READ: Chinese consumers could boycott Apple if US bans WeChat, ministry warns
Critics have criticized Trump’s call for the US government to get a piece of the deal, claiming it appears unconstitutional and akin to extortion.
The owner of the popular video app TikTok has pledged to “strictly abide” by new export rules in China, which could complicate the sale of the business as required by Trump.
NEW CHINESE RULES
China’s Ministry of Commerce released new rules last week that added “civil use” to a list of technologies whose export is restricted.
The move marked the first time China has adjusted its list of technologies subject to export bans or restrictions since 2008, adding 23 new items.
READ: China’s new tech export controls could give Beijing a voice in selling TikTok
The new regulations could make it harder for ByteDance to sell the popular video app, which features clips of everything from dance routines and hair dye tutorials to jokes about everyday life and politics.
Walmart has confirmed it joined forces with Microsoft in negotiations to buy TikTok. Oracle is also reported to be interested in TikTok.
CEO Kevin Mayer resigned from the company last week, days after TikTok filed a lawsuit against the US government’s crackdown.
TikTok, which has been downloaded 175 million times in the US and more than 1 billion times worldwide, argued in the lawsuit that Trump’s order was a misuse of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. because the platform is not “an unusual and extraordinary threat..”
Trump claims that China could use TikTok to track the location of federal employees, create files on individuals to blackmail and conduct corporate espionage.
TikTok, used by one billion people around the world to make wacky, short-form videos on their cell phones, has repeatedly denied sharing data with Beijing.
