US, China Reach ‘Consensus’ on TikTok, Setting Up Trump-Xi Call
US President Donald Trump
(Bloomberg) — President Donald Trump said he would speak with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Friday, in what would be the two leaders’ first direct engagement since June, and one where a settlement over the Chinese-owned TikTok app may be at stake.
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“I will be speaking to President Xi on Friday. The relationship remains a very strong one!!!,” Trump said in a post on social media Monday. Referring to a meeting of top officials between the two nations in Madrid, Trump also said that the session “has gone VERY WELL!”
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who led the talks in Spain, told reporters that a framework to keep ByteDance Ltd.’s TikTok app running in the US had been reached. China’s Vice Commerce Minister Li Chenggang also told reporters in Madrid that a framework of “consensus” had been reached on TikTok, while cautioning that Beijing won’t sacrifice principles for a deal.
The terms of the blueprint, and whether they would satisfy the requirements of a US national security law that took effect in January, remain unclear. But a US official emphasized that some arrangement was crucial in order for Trump and Xi to have their first in-person tête-à-tête later this year.
Had there been no deal on TikTok, a Trump-Xi meeting on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation gathering in South Korea late next month would have been off the table, the official said. A Trump state visit to China would also have been off the table, the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue.
WATCH: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says a framework to keep the TikTok app running in the US had been reached.Source: Bloomberg
The Madrid talks came ahead of a looming deadline later this week to secure a deal that would divest TikTok’s American operations to comply with a US national security law. Trump has already extended the deadline more than once to keep the popular app, which he credits with boosting his appeal among younger voters in the last election, running.
A solution involving Oracle Corp., among other US investors, has been floated in the past. Oracle and TikTok have worked together on a plan called Project Texas aimed at separating and securing TikTok’s US user data from ByteDance’s operations in China. Oracle was also the leading contender to acquire part of TikTok’s business in 2020 when Trump tried, but failed, to ban the app over national security concerns during his first term.
“President Trump and party Chair Xi will speak on Friday to complete the deal, but we do have a framework for the deal with TikTok,” Bessent said. “I think the framework is for it to switch to US-controlled ownership.”
Wang Jingtao, a deputy director of China’s Cyberspace Administration, referred to methods such as the entrusted operation of TikTok’s US user data, and mentioned algorithms and intellectual property rights, without getting into specifics.
Rubio, Hegseth
The Chinese government will, according to the law, examine and approve relevant matters involving TikTok such as the export of technology and the licenses used in IP, Wang said.
Chinese representatives also raised concerns about US sanctions and urged Washington to lift restrictions as soon as possible during the meeting, Vice Minister Li said.
High-level engagement between Washington and Beijing has kicked up a gear ahead of a potential in-person summit meeting between Trump and Xi when both are expected to attend an APEC forum in South Korea at the end of next month. Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth spoke with their Chinese counterparts.
The two nations have suspended the most extreme economic protection measures against each other, which saw US tariffs go up as high as 145%, with the latest deadline coming in mid-November.
Tariff Pause
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, also speaking in Madrid on Monday, indicated that another extension in the pause on the highest tariff levels is possible when the November deadline arrives.
“We’re certainly open to considering further action there, if the talks continue in a positive direction,” Greer told reporters.
The Madrid talks were focused on TikTok, with negotiations on other topics essentially deferred, Bessent and Greer indicated. Even so, Chinese officials raised concerns about American export controls, he said.
Ahead of the talks on Sunday, China launched two investigations targeting the US semiconductor industry. The probes came shortly after the US added 23 more China-based companies, including chipmakers, to a list of businesses deemed to be “acting contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the US.”
Bessent told reporters Monday, “We will be holding trade negotiations in about a month, again at a different location.” The latest round follows earlier talks between Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Stockholm in July, London in June and Geneva in May. The Treasury chief said it “remains to be seen” whether a trade deal can be done with China before the APEC summit.
“We’re very focused on TikTok and making sure that it was a deal that is fair for the Chinese and completely respects US national security concerns, and that’s definitely reached,” Greer said.
–With assistance from Alexandra S. Levine.
(Updates with further context and quotes throughout.)
