President Donald Trump said Thursday that the long-anticipated deal involving TikTok will be put on hold, and that he may also ease off plans for additional tariffs on Chinese goods, signaling a potential cooling in the ongoing U.S.–China trade tensions.
“We have a deal for TikTok,” Trump told reporters, “but it’ll be subject to China, so we’ll just delay the deal until this thing works out one way or the other.”
The deal in question involves Chinese tech company ByteDance, which owns TikTok, being required to sell the app’s U.S. operations due to national security concerns. The app is used by roughly 170 million Americans, and the U.S. government has been pressuring ByteDance to divest its stake to a U.S.-approved buyer.
Trump’s comments on TikTok came alongside his remarks on tariffs, where he indicated a more cautious approach moving forward. “I don’t want them to go higher because at a certain point, people stop buying,” he said. “You want people to buy.”
Earlier this month, the U.S. imposed 10% tariffs on a wide range of imports, and raised the tariff rate on Chinese goods to 145% after Beijing retaliated with its own measures. The moves caused volatility in financial markets and raised concerns about the broader economic impact.
Now, both sides appear to be stepping back. China recently said it will not engage in a “numbers game with tariffs,” a sign that it, too, is reluctant to escalate the dispute further.
Trump confirmed that China had reached out since the latest tariff announcements and expressed optimism that an agreement could be reached. However, sources told Reuters that direct, high-level talks—such as those involving President Xi Jinping—have been limited.
As the trade situation unfolds, the fate of the TikTok deal remains closely tied to broader U.S.–China negotiations. For now, both the future of the app in the U.S. and the direction of trade policy remain uncertain.