Trump signs order on TikTok as China matches his tariffs and trade war escalates
President Donald Trump signed an executive order around TikTok’s compulsory sale as China retaliated to his tariffs by matching them and further escalating the trade war.
TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, faced a deadline of Saturday, April 5, to sell its US assets or be shut down in America.
As of Friday morning there was still no deal, and Trump in the afternoon made an announcement around the popular social media platform as global financial chaos continued following his new reciprocal tariffs policy.
‘My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress,’ wrote Trump on his Truth Social platform.
‘The Deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed, which is why I am signing an Executive Order to keep TikTok up and running for an additional 75 days.’
Trump said the US still hopes to reach a deal with China – but quickly pivoted to doubling down on the sweeping tariffs he implemented on Thursday.
‘We hope to continue working in Good Faith with China, who I understand are not very happy about our Reciprocal Tariffs (Necessary for Fair and Balanced Trade between China and the U.S.A.!),’ he wrote.
‘This proves that Tariffs are the most powerful Economic tool, and very important to our National Security!’
Trump concluded that his administration does not want TikTok to ‘go dark’.
‘We look forward to working with TikTok and China to close the Deal,’ he wrote.
‘Thank you for your attention to this matter!’
Trump punted on TikTok as China reacted to Trump’s new 34% reciprocal tariff by slapping a 34% tariff back on the US. China’s tariff on all American imports will go into effect on April 10, elevating the trade war.
While Trump has shown no mercy on the stock markets, which dropped to the lowest point since 2022, his TikTok order reflects his desire to keep millions of users and content creators happy.
The US government has concluded that TikTok poses a national security threat due to its ties to China. TikTok briefly went dark in January before Trump extended the deadline for ByteDance to sell it.
Trump’s order represents the second 75-day extension for the deadline, which will now fall in mid-June.
A ByteDance spokesperson on Friday stated that the company ‘has been in discussion with the US government regarding a potential solution for TikTok US’.
Key matters remain unresolved, the spokesperson said, and ‘any agreement will be subject to approval under Chinese law’.
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