Trump reports advancement in discussions with China's Xi, particularly concerning TikTok
In a significant development, U.S. President Donald Trump has announced plans to travel to China early next year, marking the first visit by a U.S. president since 2017. This visit is set to coincide with a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, as revealed by Trump in the fall of 2025.
The bilateral relationship between the two nations has been strained, with the U.S. imposing tariffs of up to 145% on Chinese imports and China retaliating with tariffs of 125% on U.S. exports. These tariffs have threatened to bring all trade to a halt.
One of the key issues on the table is the fate of TikTok, the popular video-sharing app. Last year, Congress passed a law mandating that TikTok go offline in the U.S. unless ByteDance, the app's owner, gave up control. The app briefly went offline just hours before a ban was due to take effect on January 19, 2025.
However, progress has been made in recent months. In May, the U.S. and China announced a 90-day truce, during which tariff rates were lowered and other trade barriers, including deliveries of Chinese rare earth minerals, were eased. More recently, the U.S. and China announced a 'framework' for handling the ownership of TikTok in talks last week.
Details about a potential deal, including which U.S. companies would be involved and whether ByteDance would retain a stake, have not been released as of Friday afternoon. President Trump mentioned that several well-known American investors would be part of the deal, but did not reveal any names. Among the U.S.-Americans involved in the negotiations are Oracle (led by Larry Ellison), investment firms Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz, media moguls Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, and entrepreneurs Michael Dell.
China has also expressed its interest in an open, fair, and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese enterprises investing in the U.S. Xi Jinping stated that China respects the wishes of enterprises and is pleased to see companies conduct business negotiations on the basis of market rules.
The leaders of the world's top two economies spoke in June and agreed on an in-person meeting. The call yielded progress on issues like trade, Fentanyl, the war between Russia and Ukraine, and the fate of TikTok. The conversation was described as 'pragmatic, positive, and constructive' by China's state news agency Xinhua.
As the U.S. and China continue their negotiations, the future of TikTok and the state of U.S.-China relations remain topics of global interest.
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