US, China reach deal to allow TikTok sale, Bessent – Business News
WASHINGTON — The US and China have finalized a deal to switch the American model of TikTok to new homeowners, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent revealed on Sunday.
President Trump and Chinese chief Xi Jinping will formally “consummate” that deal after they meet in Busan, South Korea on Thursday — marking the primary time the 2 have seen one another in individual since 2019.
“We reached a final deal on TikTok,” Bessent informed CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “We reached one in Madrid, and I imagine that as of immediately, all the small print are ironed out, and that will likely be for the 2 leaders to consummate that transaction on Thursday in Korea.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on CBS News’ Face the Nation with
Margaret Brennan on October 26, 2025. CBS News
Trump had signed an govt order final month to pave the best way for the TikTok switch deal, however the two sides nonetheless had a few particulars to work out on the time.
Bessent declined to present further particulars in regards to the finalized deal, noting that he wasn’t “part of the commercial side of the transaction.”
“My remit was to get the Chinese to agree to approve the transaction, and I believe we successfully accomplished that over the past two days,” he defined.
Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks during a assembly on Oct. 14, 2025. AP
Under the framework unveiled final month in Trump’s govt order, TikTok’s father or mother company ByteDance will own much less than 20% of the favored video-sharing platform and “certain investors” will get 80% of it.
That would adjust to laws handed by Congress and signed into law by former President Joe Biden final 12 months mandating that TikTok be divested from its Chinese Communist Party-linked possession due to US national security issues.
Trump has repeatedly delayed the deadline for TikTok to be divested to buy time for negotiations to play out. If BytDance refused to divest, TikTok would’ve been banned from key app shops within the US.
The US and China have finalized a deal to switch the bulk possession of TikTok. FellowNeko – stock.adobe.com
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The president beforehand stated that Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, tech mogul Michael Dell and News Corp Chairman Emeritus Rupert Murdoch will play a function within the TikTok deal.
It’s unclear if something vital modified during the finalization of the deal.
Bessent additionally indicated that Trump plans to withdraw the 155% tariff charge he threatened in opposition to Beijing final week due to frustrations over China’s plans to tighten export controls on its uncommon earth processing. That 155% tariff charge would’ve taken impact on Nov. 1, in accordance to Trump. Currently, the US has a roughly 55% tariff charge levied on most imports from China.
“It would be an extra 100% from where we are now, and I believe that that is effectively off the table,” Bessent stated. “I’m not going to get ahead of the two leaders who will be meeting in Korea on Thursday, but I can tell you we had a very good two days.”
“So I would expect that the threat of the 100% has gone away, as has the threat of the immediate imposition of the Chinese initiating a worldwide export control regime.”
The Treasury secretary additionally teased that “soybean farmers are going to be extremely happy with this deal for this year and for the coming years,” with out elaborating.
Critics accused the Trump administration of harming US soybean farmers with a $20 billion currency swap given to Argentina, fretting that propping up Buenos Aires’ economic system would allow the Latin American nation to sell more soybeans to China.
“Those soybeans were always going to get purchased. They just did it at a time when the Argentines had lifted their export taxes. So those soybeans were always going to be on the market,” Bessent countered.
“I believe that we have brought the market back into equilibrium, and I believe that the Chinese will be making substantial purchases again.”
