This is your periodic reminder that TikTok could still be banned in the U.S., because as of right now, despite various assurances from the Trump administration that a deal will be done ahead of the current extension deadline, there’s been no official statement from TikTok, nor parent company ByteDance, to confirm that any such deal is in place.
As a quick recap, back in September, the White House issued an official statement which outlined how President Trump had saved TikTok by signing an agreement that would see an Oracle-led consortium take control of a U.S.-specific version of the app, thus meeting the requirements of the Senate-approved “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” which went into effect on January 19th 2025.
That act stipulates that TikTok, and indeed any app owned by ByteDance, needs to exit the U.S., due to concerns around how these apps may be being used by the Chinese government for covert surveillance and manipulation. The only way to avoid this would be for these apps to be sold into U.S. ownership instead, which would alleviate concerns about potential misuse.
Which, again, Trump and Co. said was happening, so all good, TikTok’s saved, no more worries about TikTok being booted from America. Right?
Well, the problem is, Chinese officials didn’t actually approve the deal back then, Trump basically just announced that he had approved the proposal which his team had presented. Yet, even so, Trump’s negotiating team was so confident that they’d get the deal through, that the White House held a press event to announce the pending arrangement anyway, and declared that TikTok would remain in operation in the U.S.
Then it was silent. With Trump issuing another extension on enforcement of the TikTok bill, negotiations were seemingly going on behind the scenes, but nothing was communicated publicly about the status of the deal, and whether it was actually, officially confirmed.
Then in December, media reports suggested that TikTok had begun communicating details of that deal to staff internally, which signaled that the deal was on, and that a local version of the app would officially be sold into U.S. ownership, which provided relief for many anxious TikTok stars who were concerned that they might lose their following.
But as of right now, the arrangement still hasn’t been officially confirmed, while Chinese government representatives have been far less definitive when discussing the proposal.
On Christmas Day, He Yongqian, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce said that:
“The Chinese government hopes that relevant parties can reach a solution regarding TikTok that complies with Chinese laws and regulations and achieves a balance of interests.”
He further noted that while Chinese and U.S. negotiators had reached a preliminary framework that would address issues around TikTok’s operations in the U.S., the CCP also wanted to ensure that the U.S. maintains “a fair, open, transparent and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese companies” operating in the nation.
For context, President Trump has also threatened to impose “100% tariffs” on Chinese exports, though he has since delayed implementing this extra charge due to negotiations over efforts to combat fentanyl distribution.
But the bottom line is that no TikTok sell-off deal has been officially announced, nor seemingly agreed to by both sides. Which means that by the end of this week, on January 23rd, when the latest executive order period runs out, TikTok could once again be facing a full ban in the U.S.
It’s also worth noting here that the deal doesn’t have to just be agreed upon, it has to have been enacted and in effect by that date. Maybe there’s work going on behind the scenes that we don’t know about, but right now, nothing has been officially communicated that would suggest the TikTok-U.S. break-up is close to being finalized.
So what does that mean?
Well, most likely it means that President Trump will be signing yet another executive order to withhold enforcement of the bill, which would be the fifth time that Trump has issued an EO to keep TikTok running in the U.S. Maybe that will then give all parties the last bit of time the need to finalize the details, and separate TikTok U.S. from its Chinese parent company, but right now, who knows, as nothing has seemingly been confirmed, agreed to, or enacted.
And with some senators considering how they might be able to oppose Trump’s ongoing executive orders, which withhold an approved law from being enacted, maybe TikTok could still face a full ban in the U.S.
I don’t think it will happen this week, and U.S.-China relations have seemingly been more positive of late. But if things do take a turn, China could still reject any U.S. proposal, which would force the app out of the American market.
Expect a White House update on this sometime in the next two days.
