U.S. and China Reach Framework Agreement on TikTok

On January 18, 2025, the TikTok logo and the U.S. flag appear on an electronic screen. (Anthony Kwan/Getty Images)

[People News] U.S. President Donald Trump stated that the latest round of U.S.-China trade negotiations, which began last weekend, is “progressing very smoothly.” He also mentioned, “an agreement has been reached regarding a certain company that our country’s young people are very eager to save” — this clearly refers to the popular social media platform TikTok.

According to a Voice of America report, on Monday (September 15), Trump made this positive comment on his social media Truth Social, and revealed: “I will be speaking with Xi (Jinping) on Friday. This relationship remains very strong.”

Representatives of the U.S. and China held a meeting on Sunday in Madrid, Spain. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and senior Chinese Communist Party officials, including PRC Vice Premier He Lifeng, discussed trade and economic issues, as well as the TikTok matter. Both countries confirmed this news.

In a video released Monday on the official X account “White House Rapid Response 47,” Bessent stated: “We already have a framework for a TikTok deal. The two leaders, the U.S. President and (the CCP’s) President Xi, will hold talks on Friday to finalize this deal.”

Later, at a Monday evening press conference, Bessent reiterated that the U.S. and China had reached a framework agreement regarding TikTok’s ownership, and that Trump and Xi Jinping would finalize the TikTok deal on Friday. The U.S. and China are the world’s two largest economies.

“We will not discuss the commercial terms of this deal,” Bessent said. “This is a transaction between two private entities. But the commercial terms have already been agreed upon.”

In addition, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer stated at a press conference following the conclusion of the negotiations on Monday: “President Trump played a role in this… Without his leadership and the influence he provided, we would not have been able to reach this framework agreement today.”

Chinese Communist officials said that the PRC delegation will remain in Madrid until Wednesday.

Since the beginning of this year, tensions between the two countries over trade tariffs have continued to escalate, with both sides imposing high tariffs on each other’s imported products. Later, the two countries agreed to ease tensions: the U.S. lowered tariffs on Chinese imports to 30%, and China lowered tariffs on American goods to 10%.

The TikTok controversy has been a key issue of concern for both sides. TikTok is the overseas version of the Chinese short video-sharing platform Douyin, developed and owned by Beijing-based tech company ByteDance.

U.S. officials have long been concerned about the company’s ownership, pointing out that Chinese law requires Chinese companies to provide data requested by the government. The proprietary algorithm that determines what content users see on the app is another issue raised by U.S. lawmakers.

Prior to the Madrid meeting, PRC authorities had consistently rejected U.S. demands that TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance sell its controlling stake to American investors.

President Trump extended TikTok’s ban grace period three times. The final deadline for this popular app to find a buyer in the United States or be banned is September 17.

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