Donald Trump asserts that a potential deal with China regarding the sale of TikTok faltered after he unveiled his new tariff policies.
Trump made these claims while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, as he returned to Washington after a weekend of golfing in Florida.
“We had a deal pretty much for TikTok — not a deal but pretty close — and then China changed the deal because of the tariffs,” Trump stated.
He went on to suggest that a reduction in tariffs could quickly pave the way for an agreement.
“If I gave a little cut in tariffs, they’d approve that deal in 15 minutes, which shows you the power of tariffs,” he added, hinting at a potential negotiating tactic.
Donald Trump keeps TikTok sale alive
Trump’s comments follow his announcement on Friday that he planned to extend the deadline for TikTok’s sale, offering ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese owner, additional time to finalize a deal.
On Truth Social, Trump stated that he would sign an executive order granting ByteDance 75 more days to either sell its stake in the app or face a ban in the US.
“We do not want TikTok to ‘go dark,’” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Friday.
We look forward to working with TikTok and China to close the Deal.
Trump has consistently used tariffs as a bargaining chip in his dealings with China, aiming to exert pressure and force concessions on a TikTok sale.
On Thursday, a day after imposing a baseline 10% tariff on imports from all countries and increasing China’s tariff rate to 54%, Trump stated that he would consider cutting deals with countries over the tariffs only if they were willing to offer the US “something that’s so phenomenal.”
A history of hints: Trump’s tariff-for-TikTok strategy
“For instance, with TikTok as an example, we have the situation with TikTok, where China will probably say, ‘We’ll approve a deal, but will you do something on the tariff?’” Trump told reporters on Air Force One.
Prior to that, on March 26, he had indicated that he might offer China a “little reduction in tariffs” to “get it done,” further suggesting a potential quid pro quo.
In response to the U.S.’s 34% additional tariffs, China retaliated with its own set of 34% tariffs on all US goods on Friday, escalating trade tensions between the two economic giants.
Reacting to Trump’s increased tariffs on Wednesday, China’s Commerce Ministry issued a statement asserting that it would “resolutely take countermeasures to safeguard its own rights and interests.”
Trump initially extended the deadline in January upon entering office, giving ByteDance until April 5 to finalize a plan.
The app briefly went dark for its US users on January 18 before service was restored.
Several parties have expressed interest in acquiring TikTok, including Trump’s former treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin, Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian, former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, and YouTuber MrBeast.
Representatives for TikTok, the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., and Trump did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
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