China rejects US offer to trade TikTok for tax breaks

China’s Foreign Ministry said on March 27 that it has not changed its stance on TikTok and that it opposes further tariffs from the United States, suggesting that Beijing is not willing to make concessions to help complete the sale of the popular video platform.

Illustration: Unsplash

TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, is under intense pressure from the US government. Under a law passed in 2024, ByteDance must sell TikTok to a non-Chinese company by April 5 or the app will be banned in the US.

The main reason the US wants to force TikTok to divest is the concern that China could take advantage of the platform to collect user data or manipulate US public opinion.

In response, Trump said he was willing to “reduce tariffs a little bit” in exchange for China’s approval of the deal. But Beijing flatly refused, making the TikTok sale more difficult. Without China’s approval, ByteDance would have a hard time selling TikTok to the extent required by the US.

Several companies are currently interested in acquiring TikTok, including Microsoft, Oracle, and a group of investors led by real estate mogul Frank McCourt. YouTube personality MrBeast is even on the list of people interested in participating in the deal. In addition, AI company Perplexity has proposed integrating artificial intelligence search technology into TikTok to create a new, more powerful platform.

With China refusing to budge, Trump may have to find another way to achieve his goal. He has also suggested that he could extend the deadline for the deal, but without a suitable solution, TikTok could be stuck, affecting its 170 million US users.

Hoai Phuong (according to AFP, Reuters, China Daily)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/trung-quoc-tu-choi-de-nghi-doi-tiktok-lay-giam-thue-tu-my-post340324.html