Washington and Beijing have reached a framework agreement concerning the transfer of TikTok to US-controlled ownership, according to Jamieson Greer, a United States trade representative.
Speaking following negotiations with Chinese officials, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed that the deal was progressing, though he declined to disclose the commercial terms. “We have a framework for a TikTok deal,” Bessent told reporters after high-level talks in Madrid. “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.”
The agreement marks a significant development in the protracted dispute over the ownership of TikTok, which has drawn scrutiny in Washington due to national security concerns surrounding its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. In April 2024, President Joe Biden signed legislation requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok within nine months or face a complete ban. That deadline has since been extended multiple times by President Donald Trump.
The saga dates back to 2020, when Trump first ordered ByteDance to sell the social media platform or risk a shutdown. Microsoft initially pursued an acquisition valued in the billions, with CEO Satya Nadella engaging directly with Trump. The deal ultimately collapsed, with Nadella later describing it as “the strangest deal” he had ever encountered.
Subsequently, Walmart and Oracle proposed a joint acquisition of the social media’s US operations under a new entity named TikTok Global. However, the plan was shelved indefinitely following a separate review of Chinese technology firms by the Biden administration.
Oracle has continued to serve as TikTok’s US cloud provider since 2022, under an arrangement designed to mitigate security concerns.
Bessent stated that final details of the agreement would be determined following a scheduled meeting between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday. Greer confirmed that the framework now awaits approval from both leaders. “We’re not going to be in the business of having repetitive extensions,” Greer said. “We have a deal.”
TikTok currently boasts over 135 million active users in the United States. Despite federal restrictions prohibiting the app’s use on government-issued devices, the White House launched its official account on the platform in August.
