US, China reach framework agreement on TikTok

The United States and China reached a framework agreement to switch short-video app TikTok to US-controlled ownership that will be confirmed in a call between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday, US officials said.

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TikTok faced being switched off in the US as soon as September 17 if Chinese owner ByteDance didn’t agree to divest. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said it was possible the deadline could be extended to allow for the deal to be finalised.

“We're not going to talk about the commercial terms of the deal. It’s between two private parties, but the commercial terms have been agreed upon,” Bessent told reporters at the conclusion of two days of talks that took place in Madrid.

The US-China negotiations at the Spanish foreign ministry’s baroque Palacio de Santa Cruz were the fourth round of talks in four months to address strained trade ties as well as TikTok’s looming divestiture deadline.

Trump praised the TikTok deal on Monday.

“The big Trade Meeting in Europe between The United States of America, and China, has gone VERY WELL! It will be concluding shortly,” Trump wrote on his TruthSocial platform.