Trump would be about to announce a "Tiktok America", but China still does not agree

Pressure, bluff, or real agreement with Beijing? Wednesday, April 2, according to the American media The Information, Donald Trump will shortly announce the plans for "TikTok America." The announcement, which was scheduled for Wednesday evening, has still not taken place, this Thursday, April 3, forty-eight hours before April 5, the date on which TikTok is to be transferred to the United States. non-Chinese interests.

According to a law from April 2024, the social network, used by one in two Americans, is supposed to be banned in the country, for reasons of "national security," unless it is sold. In January, Donald Trump had already extended the period during which the platform had to find a buyer – it was initially planned until January 19.

Here's how TikTok USA would be separated of its parent company

According to the Financial Times, we now know a little more about the negotiations. Here is a montage that is reportedly under discussion:

• The social network's American activity would be half-acquired by a group of investors, including Marc Andreessen, Blackstone, and Silver Lake. The company American company Oracle would have the difficult task of "separating the social network from ByteDance," TikTok's Chinese parent company. Oracle already stores the data of the platform's American users in the United States.
• ByteDance would nevertheless retain a 19.9% stake in TikTok's American business, but it would no longer have control over it. The Chinese giant would grant this American consortium a license to use TikTok's algorithm, according to The Information. A point intended to respond to a demand from Beijing, which had declared that ByteDance would not give up its content recommendation algorithm.
• The remainder of TikTok USA (30%) would go to TikTok's current investors, such as General Atlantic, Susquehanna, KKR, and Coatue.

It remains to be seen whether Beijing will give its approval

It remains to be seen whether this project, which seems to be taking shape, is actually being considered by Beijing, which has not issued the slightest statement on the subject. According to the Wall Street Journal, Chinese authorities were waiting to see the new tariffs imposed on China before considering anything else.

However, they are particularly high – 34% higher – much higher than for the European Union, which is taxed at 20%. According to the American financial newspaper, Donald Trump was due to discuss this arrangement yesterday, as well as the idea of extending the deadline. The discussion has reportedly not yet come to fruition.

Meanwhile, other acquisition candidates have come forward, such as Amazon and AppLovin, reported Wednesday, April 2, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and CNBC, adding to the list of interested individuals or companies such as Blackstone, Frank McCourt, Perplexity and Oracle.