The United States and China appear to have finalized an agreement to keep TikTok operating in the U.S., according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. He said the two sides have “a final deal on TikTok,” with top leaders expected to complete the transaction on Thursday during meetings in Korea.
Bessent noted that negotiators first reached a framework in Madrid last month, after which President Donald Trump signed an executive order to enable the deal. While he declined to share specifics, Bessent emphasized that his mandate was to secure Chinese approval for the transaction, which he said was achieved over the past two days.
The agreement follows repeated extensions of a deadline requiring TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to either sell the app or face a U.S. ban. Under the executive order, TikTok’s U.S. operations — including its recommendation algorithm, source code, and content moderation — would be overseen by a newly formed board of directors. Oracle is set to take charge of security operations as part of the structure. Reported investors in the new joint venture include Oracle, Fox Corp, Andreessen Horowitz, and Silver Lake Management, with Fox’s involvement publicly acknowledged by President Trump.
Bessent spoke from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where American and Chinese officials also said they had reached a framework on broader trade issues, including tariffs. U.S. trade negotiator Jamieson Greer told reporters that rare earth minerals were part of the talks, though he did not detail how they would be addressed. China has signaled tighter export controls on these materials, which are critical for manufacturing semiconductors and other advanced tech components. “We talked about extending the truce, we talked about rare earths, of course, we talked about all kinds of topics,” Greer said.
If completed as described, the TikTok deal would create a clearer governance and security model for the app’s U.S. business while potentially easing a major point of tension in the broader U.S.–China technology relationship. All eyes now turn to Thursday’s meeting in Korea for formal approval and next steps.
