Looks like TikTok can stay in the U.S. after all.
As reported by CNN, “the US government will not extend the Dec. 4 deadline for TikTok to find a [US] buyer, but also will not seek to enforce the order [by Trump] either, according to a person familiar with the matter, allowing the two sides to continue negotiating in an open-ended manner.”
With no new deadline set forth, US officials seem “highly motivated” to resolve the issue.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States “is engaging with ByteDance to complete the divestment and other steps necessary to resolve the national security risks arising from the transaction, consistent with the President’s August 14 Order.”
Trump fist announced his plans to shut down TikTok over an alleged security threat. In July 2020, he admitted that a ban on TikTok is some sort of retaliation for the coronavirus pandemic.“What happened with China with this virus, what they’ve done to this country and to the entire world is disgraceful.” In September, Trump blessed a deal between China’s ByteDance and US companies Oracle and Walmart. Under the deal, the owners of the app have to set up a company called TikTok Global headquartered in the United States. However, Trump never officially approved the deal that should have been closed by December 4. With the deadline no longer a problem, the US companies and ByteDance have all the time they need to iron out “a few outstanding issues” that remain.