Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent just dropped a bombshell that could end TikTok's year-long ownership saga. Speaking from Madrid trade talks Monday, Bessent confirmed the U.S. and China have reached a 'framework' deal for the social media platform, with Presidents Trump and Xi Jinping set to finalize terms this Friday - just two days before ByteDance's Sept. 17 divestiture deadline.
The TikTok ownership saga that's consumed Washington and Silicon Valley for over a year just hit a major inflection point. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent delivered the news tech executives and 170 million American TikTok users have been waiting for: the U.S. and China have a deal framework in place.
"It's between two private parties, but the commercial terms have been agreed upon," Bessent told reporters from U.S.-China trade talks in Madrid. The timing couldn't be more dramatic - ByteDance faces a Sept. 17 deadline to divest TikTok's U.S. operations or watch the platform go dark for American users.
Trump amplified the announcement with characteristic flair on Truth Social, cryptically referencing a deal "on a 'certain' company that young people in our Country very much wanted to save." The president and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet Friday to hammer out final terms, setting up what could be the most consequential tech deal of the decade.
Bessent's comments suggest the framework would pivot TikTok to U.S.-controlled ownership, potentially ending the national security concerns that have dogged the Chinese-owned platform since 2020. Apple and Google have been prohibited from distributing TikTok in U.S. app stores due to its "foreign adversary-controlled application" status under legislation Congress passed last year.
The announcement comes as ByteDance has burned through multiple deadline extensions. Trump initially postponed the shutdown in January with an executive order giving the company 75 additional days. Further extensions followed in April and June, but Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick made clear in July that TikTok would shutter for Americans without Chinese concessions on U.S. autonomy.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer acknowledged Monday that the Sept. 17 deadline might need adjustment to finalize paperwork, but emphasized there won't be ongoing extensions. That's a significant shift from the pattern of repeated delays that's characterized TikTok's regulatory limbo.
