US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he is extending by 75 days the deadline for Chinese technology company ByteDance to divest its US assets tied to the popular short video app TikTok.

The original deadline, set for Saturday under a 2024 law, now moves to mid-June, as Trump explained that "more work" is needed to finalize the deal.

"The deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed," Trump stated on social media, while also expressing hope to continue engaging in "good faith" negotiations with China. The delay comes amid escalating trade tensions, with Trump having recently increased tariffs on Chinese goods by 34%, prompting China to retaliate on Friday.

ByteDance, which owns TikTok, has been under intense pressure from US lawmakers who claim the app has certain potential security risks. TikTok, which boasts 170 million users in the US, must find a non-Chinese buyer for its American operations or face a potential ban.

A ByteDance spokesperson confirmed on Friday that discussions with the US government are ongoing but emphasized that "key matters" remain unresolved. "Any agreement will be subject to approval under Chinese law," the spokesperson said, underscoring the difficulty of obtaining approval from the Chinese government for such a deal.

Talks to sell TikTok's US operations

Trump’s administration has been in talks with four unnamed groups regarding the sale of TikTok’s US operations. However, a significant barrier to any agreement is obtaining Chinese government approval, which has not been forthcoming.

"We look forward to working with TikTok and China to close the deal," Trump wrote, adding that he does not want the app to "go dark."

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The extension is also linked to the ongoing US-China tariff dispute. China currently faces a 54% tariff on exports into the US following Trump's recent tariff hike, prompting retaliatory measures from Beijing. Trump has signaled that he may reduce tariffs if a deal with ByteDance can be reached.

The White House's proposed solution centers on increasing the stakes of non-Chinese investors in ByteDance’s parent company, diluting Chinese ownership below the 20% threshold required by US law. Reuters has reported that this restructuring plan is viewed as the key to saving TikTok from a potential ban in the US.

'Divest or face ban'

The US House of Representatives passed legislation in March requiring ByteDance to sell the social media platform or risk a total ban in the US. The vote received 352 Congress members' approval. Only 65 voted no. 

The law, which was expedited to a vote after being unanimously approved by a committee last week, provides China-based ByteDance with 165 days to withdraw from TikTok. If it did not, app shops such as the Apple App Store and Google Play would be legally prohibited from hosting TikTok or offering web hosting services to ByteDance-controlled applications.

The vote is the latest in an ongoing political struggle over claims that the China-based business collects sensitive user data and deliberately censors material. TikTok has frequently declared that it does not and will not share US user data with the Chinese authorities.

Despite these concerns, Donald Trump sought to prohibit TikTok in 2020, and Montana passed a state-wide ban in 2023. Both bans were overturned by courts on the basis that they violated the First Amendment, and Trump has subsequently switched his position, now opposing a TikTok ban.

China could use TikTok to 'influence' US elections, spy chief says

During a House of Representatives intelligence committee hearing, Avril Haines, the US director of national intelligence, claimed that China might leverage the social media app TikTok to impact the 2024 US elections.

In response to a question from Democratic Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi regarding whether China's ruling Communist Party (CCP) would use TikTok to influence the elections, Haines stated, "We cannot dismiss the possibility that the CCP would utilize it."

Lawmakers expressed concerns that the Chinese government could access user data or influence what content the users see, adding that they could be trying to "exacerbate political divisions within the United States."

Krishnamoorthi, the ranking Democrat on the House Select Committee on China, and the panel's Republican chair, Mike Gallagher, introduced a bill last week that would mandate that TikTok's Chinese owner, ByteDance, divest the short video app within approximately six months.