Tech Desk 
Apr 06, 2025
Much against the short video platform's stability in the US, a TikTok US' sale deal has reportedly been called off after China expressed dissent over tremendous tariffs recently imposed by US President Donald Trump.
Reuters reported that the social media platform's home country stated that it would not approve the deal owing to tariffs and differences with the US government.
The hurdle to the sale of TikTok's US operations comes on the heels of the US president granting the platform another 75 respite to divest from its Chinese ownership and opt for non-Chinese buyers.
"[We are] still in talks with the US government, but no agreement has been reached, and the two sides still have differences on many key issues," the company said in a statement on its official account on the Chinese social media platform WeChat.
Prior to the deadline extension, TikTok was scheduled on January 19 this year to be banned or sold to a US-based entity after the implementation of a 2023 law requiring ByteDance to do so.
Since the deal was mostly completed by Wednesday, TikTok's majority stake in the country would have been sold to new US-based investors with ByteDance, with ByteDance only possessing less than 20% of the assets.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington said in a statement: "China has stated its position on TikTok on multiple occasions. China has always respected and protected the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises and opposed practices that violate the basic principles of the market economy."
Sources familiar with the matter said the deal was approved by existing investors, new investors, ByteDance and the US government.
