The United States and China are set to move forward with a TikTok deal, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed.
Last month, Bessent said the two countries had reached a “framework” agreement during discussions in Madrid, which was followed by an executive order from President Donald Trump to facilitate the transaction.
On CBS’ Face the Nation Sunday, Bessent announced that the U.S. and China have now finalized the deal. “We reached one in Madrid, and as of today, all the details are ironed out. The two leaders will consummate the transaction on Thursday in Korea,” he said, declining to share specifics. “My role was to get the Chinese to approve the transaction, which we successfully accomplished over the past two days.”
Trump has repeatedly extended the deadline requiring ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, to sell the app or face a U.S. ban. Under his executive order, TikTok’s U.S. operations—including the recommendation algorithm, source code, and content moderation—will be overseen by a new board of directors. Oracle will handle security operations.
Reports indicate that Oracle (led by Trump ally Larry Ellison), Fox Corp, Andreessen Horowitz, and Silver Lake Management will be investors in the new joint venture, with Fox’s involvement seemingly confirmed by Trump.
Bessent spoke from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators also reported progress on a framework agreement addressing tariffs and other trade issues. U.S. trade negotiator Jamieson Greer confirmed that rare earth minerals—a critical component for semiconductors and tech manufacturing—were part of the discussions, though details were not disclosed.
“We talked about extending the truce, rare earths, and various other topics,” Greer said.
