China tariffs may be cut to seal TikTok sale, Trump says

U.S. President Donald Trump has indicated he might lower tariffs on China to facilitate a deal for ByteDance to sell its short-video app, TikTok. Simultaneously, Trump expressed his willingness to extend the deadline for finding a non-Chinese buyer for TikTok, postponing the original April 5th deadline.

In January, Trump had already delayed the implementation of a law passed during the Biden administration aimed at banning TikTok. This bill, signed into law in 2024, requires TikTok to either be sold or face a ban, citing national security concerns.

Trump told reporters on Wednesday, "Regarding TikTok, China will need to have a role in it, probably in the form of an approval, maybe, I think they will." He added, "Maybe I'd lower the tariffs a little bit for them to make it happen." Trump also stated that he expects a framework for an agreement to be reached at least by the April 5th deadline.

Previously, Trump announced a new 25% import tax on all cars and car parts entering the U.S., a move that could escalate global trade tensions. The biggest hurdle to reaching a deal to sell TikTok's business, valued at tens of billions of dollars, has been obtaining approval from Beijing. Trump has previously attempted to use tariffs as a bargaining chip.

On his first day back in the White House on January 20th, Trump threatened to impose more import tariffs on China if it did not approve the TikTok deal. The popular app has approximately 170 million users in the U.S. Trump, who had previously called for a ban on TikTok during his presidency, now has his own account on the platform with over 15 million followers and claims to have gained billions of views on the app during his presidential campaign.

Furthermore, the U.S. increased tariffs this month on all imported goods from China to 20%, double the tariffs Trump imposed on the world's second-largest economy on February 4th. On February 10th, China retaliated by imposing its own tariffs, including taxes of 10-15% on some U.S. agricultural products. Beijing also placed several U.S. aviation, defense, and technology companies on an "unreliable entities list" and implemented export controls. On March 4th, the 10% tariff was doubled to 20%. China has urged the U.S. to resume dialogue with Beijing as soon as possible.