WASHINGTON — President Trump on Friday delayed a deadline for the forced sale of Chinese-owned TikTok for another 75 days.
Trump announced the decision hours after China issued retaliatory tariffs in response to his “Liberation Day” salvo of reciprocal levies — signaling defiance in the face of Trump’s offer of lower duties if Beijing parts with the app.
“My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress. The Deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed, which is why I am signing an Executive Order to keep TikTok up and running for an additional 75 days,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump announced reciprocal tariffs on Wednesday, April 2, 2025, from the White House lawn. REUTERS“We hope to continue working in Good Faith with China, who I understand are not very happy about our Reciprocal Tariffs (Necessary for Fair and Balanced Trade between China and the U.S.A.!),” Trump added.
“This proves that Tariffs are the most powerful Economic tool, and very important to our National Security! We do not want TikTok to ‘go dark.’ We look forward to working with TikTok and China to close the Deal. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
A ByteDance spokesperson said: “ByteDance has been in discussion with the U.S. Government regarding a potential solution for TikTok U.S. An agreement has not been executed. There are key matters to be resolved. Any agreement will be subject to approval under Chinese law.”
Trump on Wednesday slapped a 34% “reciprocal” tariff on Chinese goods — after imposing a 20% tariff last month over fentanyl exports.
Tariffs on China already were high from Trump’s first term — averaging 21.1% before the 47th president took office in January.
TikTok has received a variety of offers, notably from retail giants Amazon and Walmart. REUTERSA number of US companies have expressed interest in acquiring TikTok, which claims that more than half of Americans have an account, and the president has floated giving a share to his planned US sovereign wealth fund.
Candidates to take over a majority stake in TikTok include Oracle, Amazon and even adult content clearinghouse OnlyFans.
Congress voted overwhelmingly last year to ban TikTok if the Chinese firm ByteDance wouldn’t divest — via a 79-18 Senate vote and a 360-58 House landslide. Then-President Joe Biden signed the act.
The Costco Shipping container ship, China’s largest shipping line, being loaded in April 2025 in California. Getty ImagesTrump halted the implementation of the ban on his first day in office — issuing an initial 75-day extension that was due to expire Saturday.
Trump was skeptical of TikTok as a Chinese data-collection front during his first term, but came out against the ban after most major US-owned social media and content platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and Google-owned YouTube, banned him following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
It’s unclear whether Trump’s Friday extension will face legal challenges — as the law says that “the President may grant a 1-time extension of not more than 90 days.”
“There’s a lot of good and there’s a lot of bad with TikTok,” Trump said of his change of heart at the time. “But the thing I don’t like is that without TikTok, you can make Facebook bigger, and I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people along with a lot of the media.”
