U.S. and China Set to Finalize Deal Over TikTok U.S. Operations

The United States and China have reportedly reached a definitive agreement over the future of TikTok’s U.S. operations, according to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. On Sunday, Bessent told CBS’s Face the Nation that “we reached a final deal on TikTok,” adding that while preliminary discussions took place in Madrid, the transaction would be officially sealed when President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet in South Korea on Thursday.

After multiple months of back-and-forth over whether or not the platform will still be able to operate in the U.S. or be outright banned – or if it will be operating in some reduced or altered way – it seems like a deal has hopefully finally fallen into place.

The deal paves the way for major changes in the ownership and governance of TikTok’s U.S. business, which has faced intense scrutiny over national-security concerns and data privacy issues. Under a law passed in 2024 targeting foreign-adversary-controlled applications, TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance was required to divest or face a U.S. ban. According to sources, the agreed framework would shift control of the U.S. arm of TikTok to a U.S.-based investor group, possibly led by tech giants such as Oracle Corporation and investment firm Silver Lake, while ByteDance relocates to a minority stake.

The upcoming leadership meeting is expected to formalize the transfer, binding both governments to the commercial outcome. The U.S. concern has centred on the algorithmic and data-tracking capabilities of TikTok, which shares infrastructure with its Chinese counterpart. Ensuring independent U.S. oversight of those systems has been a major condition in Washington.

Notably, if the app is able to continue operations in the United States, then there’s a chance that many of the “Tiktok Alternative” platforms that sprung up around the ban’s original announcement could see a slow decline in users. With no more risk of the platform being outright blocked or taken off app stores, users may flock back to the “original” app once it is confirmed to be here to stay.