Tiktok is now flowing against time as the US government reports that it will close the popular abstract video application unless its Chinese parent company, Bytedance, fully renounces control of American interests.
US trade secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed Thursday that the Trump administration was firm in his position.
“We have made the decision. You cannot have Chinese control and have something in 100 million American phones,” he said.
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The demand, which includes the famous Tiktok’s basic technology control, data and algorithm, comes from months after President Donald Trump signed a law forcing Bydance to yield the American branch of Tiktok or cope with a national ban. The Congress adopted the bill in 2024 after years of assembly, the Chinese government could use the platform to collect data from American users or manipulate the information ecosystem.
However, despite several Trump public insurance that the agreement would be concluded “earlier than expected”, negotiations have timed. The President has extended the deadline three times since he entered into office in January. The current and perhaps final deadline is September 17.
“Basically, the Americans will have control. The Americans will be owners of the technology. The Americans will control the algorithm. This is something that Donald Trump is ready to do,” Larick said on CNBC.
China considered the final obstacle
Although the search for the right buyer remains a major obstacle, observers say that the real bottleneck of the agreement is Beijing. Even if an American entity is ready to acquire Tiktok American operations, Bytedance would always need the Chinese government’s regulatory authorization – a requirement which, according to analysts, can be difficult, if not impossible, to obtain.
Beijing previously opposed a forced transfer when a similar situation took place under the first Trump administration in 2020, calling for the move “intimidation” and “political oppression of Chinese companies”. The Chinese government has also revised its export control rules to limit the transfer of certain technologies – including content recommendation algorithms – widely considered as a decision to complicate any sale of Tiktok.
This makes current confrontation more than just commercial negotiation. This is part of a broader geopolitical conflict on data sovereignty, monitoring and controlling the next generation of global technological platforms.
Buyers are always evolving over time
Earlier this month, Reuters reported that the Blackstone Investment Giant has withdrawn from a consortium that had prepared an offer for Tiktok’s American assets, a major blow to the prospect of rapid resolution. Although Trump recently told Fox News that he had a group of “very rich people” ready to buy the platform, there is no confirmation of a finalized buyer or a final agreement yet.
Meanwhile, Bytedance has made no public declaration on the current state of negotiations or if it requests Chinese approval to move forward. As the deadline approach, legal and commercial uncertainty is looming on the future of one of the most influential digital platforms in the world.
If Bytedance fails to finish the sale in time – or if China blocks the sale – Tiktok would indeed be prohibited from operating in the United States. This would mean that the application, which has become a basic food for American digital culture, especially among generation Z, would disappear from application stores and lose access to American infrastructure, such as cloud accommodation and payment systems.
Lutnick was frank by describing the government’s position: “If China does not approve of this agreement, then Tiktok will make the dark.”
With the clock that turns around September 17, all eyes are now on Beijing and the unresolved agreement that could not only redefine the future of Tiktok, but the contours of global technological governance.
