KEY POINTS
- White House says six of seven board seats in new TikTok US entity will go to Americans.
- Karoline Leavitt confirms Oracle will oversee TikTok’s data, privacy, and algorithm.
- Trump claims Xi “approved” the deal, but China gave no confirmation.
- China’s Commerce Ministry reiterated talks must comply with its laws and ensure balance of interests.
- Wall Street Journal reports US government could receive multi-billion-dollar fee from investors.
WASHINGTON: A deal for the Chinese parent company of popular video-sharing app TikTok to sell its US operations would see the creation of a board dominated by Americans, the White House said Saturday.
WASHINGTON: A planned deal for TikTok’s Chinese parent company to sell its US operations would see a new board dominated by American members, the White House said on Saturday.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that six of the seven seats on the new board would be held by Americans, adding that a deal could be signed “in the coming days.”
“There will be seven seats on the board that controls the app in the United States, and six of those seats will be Americans,” Leavitt told Fox News. She said a deal could be signed “in the coming days.”
However, China stuck to its stance on the future of TikTok in the US on Saturday.
“The Chinese government respects the wishes of the enterprise, and welcomes it to carry out commercial negotiations in accordance with market rules to reach a solution compliant with China’s laws and regulations, and strikes a balance of interests,” China’s Commerce Ministry said in a statement, reiterating a position it has maintained over the past week.
The United States has sought to take TikTok’s US operations out of the hands of Chinese parent company ByteDance for national security reasons.
Under President Donald Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden, the US Congress passed a law to force ByteDance to sell its US operations or face a ban of the app.
US policymakers, including in Trump’s first term, have warned that China could use TikTok to mine data from Americans or exert influence on what they see on social media.
But Trump turned to the platform, which is hugely popular with young Americans, to garner support during his ultimately successful 2024 presidential campaign.
The Republican president has repeatedly pushed off implementation of the ban while a deal has been sought.
Investors reportedly being eyed to take over the app include Oracle, the tech firm owned by Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people — and a major Trump supporter.
Leavitt seemed to confirm Oracle’s participation.
“The data and privacy will be led by one of America’s greatest tech companies, Oracle, and the algorithm will also be controlled by America as well,” Leavitt told Fox News.
“So all of those details have already been agreed upon. Now we just need this deal to be signed.”
Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed the matter in a phone call on Friday.
Trump said that Xi “approved” the deal during the phone call but then said, “We have to get it signed.” China did not confirm any agreement.
“We’re going to have a very, very tight control,” Trump said. “There’s tremendous value with TikTok, and I’m a little prejudiced because I frankly did so well on it.”
The Wall Street Journal, quoting sources familiar with the talks, reported that the US government could receive a multi-billion-dollar fee from investors as part of the deal.
What China Gets from TikTok Deal
Key questions remain about the potential US/China deal after Trump and Xi held a call on Friday.
They include the precise ownership structure of TikTok, how much control China will retain over the app’s inner workings, and what Beijing gets from backing down and letting the US muscle in on one of China’s most successful companies.
Progress over the future of the social media app, which has 170 million US users, is seen as key to unlocking concessions in other areas, from airplanes to soybeans, as the world’s two largest economies chart a path beyond their current tariff truce.
“It is hoped that the US side will work towards the same goal as China, earnestly fulfil its corresponding commitments, and provide an open, fair, equitable and non-discriminatory business environment for the continued operation of Chinese enterprises in the US, including TikTok,” China’s Commerce Ministry added.
Since a framework deal was struck in Madrid earlier this week, Chinese officials and state media have called it a “win-win”, promising to review TikTok’s technology exports and intellectual property licensing.
The framework deal was one hurdle Trump needed to clear to keep TikTok open. The US Congress had originally ordered the app to be shut down for US users by January 2025 if its US assets were not sold by the Chinese owner ByteDance.
He Yadong, a spokesperson for China’s Commerce Ministry, reiterated China’s hope that the US reduce the barriers to trade facing Chinese firms, when asked what Beijing had got out of the Madrid deal during a news conference on Thursday.
