WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump says he is negotiating with four different possible buyers for TikTok’s US business and that a deal for the social video app could come “soon”.
“We’re dealing with four different groups, and a lot of people want it,” Trump told reporters last Sunday.
He didn’t specify the contenders, nor say which way he was leaning, instead saying “all four are good”.
ByteDance Ltd’s TikTok faces a deadline of April 5 to strike a deal for its US operations, or be banned from the country under a bipartisan law.
The United States is by far its most important market. ByteDance operates a sister service, Douyin, at home in China, and TikTok US was estimated to be worth as much as US$50bil last year.
Last week, Trump said he would be open to extending the deadline again if it were necessary, but thought a deal was possible in the next month.
He already pushed back the initial Jan 19 date, averting a prolonged TikTok blackout and has repeatedly signalled he’s open to striking a deal. — Bloomberg
