Will Trump cut tariffs on China to buy TikTok?

Mr. Trump speaks to reporters at the White House on March 26.

The Hill newspaper reported on March 27 that US President Donald Trump left open the possibility of reducing tariffs on Chinese goods to reach an agreement on the TikTok application divesting from ByteDance Company.

"With respect to TikTok, and China will have to play a role in that, probably in the form of approvals, and I think they will do that. Maybe I'll cut tariffs a little bit or something to get that done," he told reporters in the Oval Office.

“Because every point in the tariff is worth more than TikTok,” he added.

The comments came after he announced a 25% tariff on imported cars amid a widening trade war.

A 10% US tariff on imports from China took effect last month and Mr Trump increased it by 20% earlier this month.

Trump’s proposal to reduce tariffs on China came less than two weeks before the April 5 deadline, when the US asked TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to divest from the app in the US due to national security concerns.

That deadline was set by an executive order signed by Mr. Trump in January, extending the previous deadline of Jan. 19 by 75 days.

The TikTok ban initially took effect on January 19, the day before Trump was sworn in for his second term, causing the platform to be offline for several hours. TikTok quickly came back online after Trump pledged to issue an executive order extending it when he returned to the White House.

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Mr Trump reiterated on March 26 that he was willing to extend the deadline if the deal was not completed by next week.

"TikTok is very popular. Very successful, very good. We will have some form of agreement. But if it is not completed, that's okay, we will extend it. I have the right to have an agreement and extend it if I want," he said.

Asked if there was any way for ByteDance to still have a stake, Mr Trump replied that “we’ll figure out what’s best for the country, for our country”.

Several parties have expressed interest in acquiring TikTok's U.S. operations, including Oracle, YouTube star MrBeast and a joint proposal from billionaire Frank McCourt and "Shark Tank" star and investor Kevin O'Leary.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ong-trump-se-giam-thue-cho-trung-quoc-de-mua-duoc-tiktok-185250327084543709.htm