US government won’t extend the deadline for a TikTok deal, but negotiations continue
The US government will not extend the Dec. 4 deadline for TikTok’s Chinese parent to sell off the social media app, but it will also decline to enforce the executive order requiring the sale, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The move will allow negotiations between TikTok and US officials to continue.
TikTok has been hammering out the details of a proposed deal with the US government to resolve allegations that the app poses a spying threat. TikTok and its Chinese parent, ByteDance, proposed a deal earlier this year that would bring in US investors such as Oracle and Walmart. President Donald Trump has tentatively blessed the proposal, but it has not been formally approved by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), a governmental panel chaired by the Treasury Department that analyzes foreign investment deals for national security implications.
TikTok declined to comment.
In a statement, the Treasury said CFIUS is “engaging with ByteDance to complete the divestment and other steps necessary to resolve the national security risks arising from the transaction, consistent with the President’s August 14 Order.”
Despite blowing past the Dec. 4 deadline, the Trump administration will not attempt to impose any fines or other consequences on TikTok for the time being, the person said. Negotiations in recent weeks have led to some progress and only a few outstanding issues remain, the person added.
The reprieve was described as an open-ended commitment, with no specific timeframe for negotiations to be completed. But, the person said, the government is “highly motivated to get this finished” and said the lack of a specific deadline indicates the government’s confidence that a resolution is near.
