04/06/2025

The White House Had a TikTok Deal

Trump’s China tariff wrecked it

This week, the White House was hours away from announcing a proposal to spin off the popular video app TikTok when the Chinese government shattered the idea, saying it would not approve of any deal without first discussing President Donald Trump's tariffs and trade policy, three people close to the negotiations said.

The White House and TikTok's Chinese-based parent company, ByteDance, had agreed to a deal proposal by Wednesday and were preparing to announce it Thursday when the company told administration officials that China insisted on tariff negotiations first, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the negotiations.

On Wednesday, Trump unveiled a 34 percent tariff on Chinese imports, leading China on Friday to announce an identical tariff on American goods. China's State Council in a statement condemned "unilateral bullying" by the United States that it said had "seriously damaged China’s legitimate rights and interests."

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Washington Post.