(April 7): China’s objections to new US tariffs stalled a deal to sell off TikTok and keep it operating in the US, President Donald Trump said Sunday.

“We had a deal pretty much for TikTok — not a deal but pretty close — and then China changed the deal because of tariffs,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he returned to Washington after a long weekend in Florida. “If I gave a little cut in tariffs they would have approved that deal in 15 minutes, which shows the power of tariffs.”

Trump administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, have been working on an agreement to sell the popular social media app, owned by ByteDance Ltd, to an American buyer, as required by a bipartisan law enacted in 2024.  

But China also needs to sign off on the plan.

Before Trump announced widespread tariffs on Wednesday, a deal was reportedly close, advanced by a consortium of US investors including Oracle Corp, Blackstone Inc and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.

But that agreement was not publicly announced, and according to Trump, China’s objections impeded a pact. The Washington Post reported earlier that Trump’s moves to heighten tariffs on China stalled the talks.

Trump’s order calls for another 34% tariff on China, building on the 20% he’d already imposed on the country earlier this year. China on Friday announced it was retaliating, with its own 34% tariff on all imports from the US starting April 10; authorities also announced plans to restrict exports of some rare earth items.

Trump previously had said he would be willing to cut a deal with China to lower tariffs if the country agreed to a TikTok sale.  

Under the 2024 law, ByteDance was required to divest TikTok’s US unit by Jan 19, but the company has baulked at selling a lucrative business, which has been valued from US$20 billion (RM89.2 billion) to as high as US$150 billion. Trump previously extended the divest-or-ban requirement, and on Friday signed another 75-day extension.

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