Donald Trump said that China’s tariffs may stop on the Tik Tok deal

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Tariffs on China could be based on TikTok’s ownership, as President Donald Trump signed an executive order to keep the popular short-form video platform online for 75 days in the US.

Within hours of it Graduation on MondayTrump has extended a deadline for TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell a stake in the app or face a ban in the country.

Trump said America should be entitled to half. TiktokIf Apple continues to operate beyond the cutoff and rejects China’s negotiations, it could “definitely” face tariffs, which it said would be a “hostile act.”

He said that the tariff could reach up to 100 percent. “Ultimately (Beijing) will approve because we will impose tariffs on China.” Trump He said while signing the order. “I’m not saying I will, but you can definitely do that.”

China was one of three countries Trump threatened to impose tariffs on for the first time in office. On Monday, he said It may impose a 25 percent tax. Starting February 1st in Canada and Mexico.

But he did not impose a 60 percent tariff on Chinese imports as promised during the campaign, which would have marked a new chapter in the trade war with Beijing during his first term.

The move to avoid tariffs on China appears to be a renegotiation of the Tiki Tok deal. Trump He spoke to Chinese leader Xi Jinping. on Friday and said he had raised the issue of TikTok, although Beijing would not confirm the discussion.

At midnight on Sunday, TikTok was temporarily unavailable to its 170 million US users due to a “flood or block” policy. He continued his service after hours.

The companies that distribute and host TikTok – including Apple and Google, as well as cloud provider Oracle – will not be held liable for violating the law during the 75-day extension, he said. Under the law, service providers risk a fine of $5,000 per user.

But Tom Cotton, the Republican leader of the Senate Intelligence Committee, warned on Sunday that the companies were at risk of “terrible losses” for violating the law.

TikTok CEO Xu Zi-chew took the offensive after Trump said during his campaign that he hoped to “save” the app.

Chew attended the inauguration With technology billionaires Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg and Trump sided with Tulsi Gabbard, the nominee for director of national intelligence, which drew criticism from some observers.

Many US politicians and security officials believe that the Chinese government could use TikTok to access the personal information of Americans, which would facilitate espionage and the app’s algorithm to spread propaganda. TikTok denies Beijing has any control over the app.

Tik Tok said it was technologically impractical to transfer within the law’s time frame. Beijing has indicated its opposition to the sale.

However, Trump suggested that the United States would have to pay “half the price of TikTok” if the app were to continue operating, adding: “If I don’t make the deal, it’s not worth it.” If I make the deal, it’s probably worth a trillion dollars.

Last week Financial Times reported Chinese officials have been discussing using Trump confidant Musk as a broker to sell TikTok’s US operations. Musk attended Trump’s inauguration on Monday, meeting with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng.

He also Filtered Tik Tok’s presence in the US – Western platforms such as its social media X are banned in China – as “unbalanced”, adding that “something has to change”.

Beijing did not immediately respond to Trump’s threat of tariffs if it does not agree to the TikTok deal.

On Monday, China’s foreign ministry said any decision regarding TikTok’s ownership should be “based on market principles and decided by the companies themselves.”

Additional reporting by Aimee Williams in Washington