Technologies
Remember That TikTok Ban? This Week’s Deadline Brings Talk of a Deal
The Trump administration waxes optimistic once again about getting to a long-delayed resolution for TikTok in the US.
The Trump administration is working on a deal with China to determine TikTok’s fate, which could be finalized by the end of this week, according to reports citing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that US and Chinese teams this week discussed a plan in which TikTok’s US operations would be controlled by an investor consortium that includes software giant Oracle. US users would move to a new app that TikTok is testing and that would recreate content-recommendation algorithms for the app. The Journal noted that details of the deal have yet to be finalized and could be subject to change.
President Trump has plans to talk on Friday with China’s President Xi Jinping about the fate of the Chinese-owned social media platform, reports said. Bessent said Monday that the two countries have reached a preliminary deal and “commercial terms have been agreed upon.”
The key question is whether ownership of TikTok will transfer to a US-based company. The platform could shut down temporarily in the US, as it has before, in accordance with a federal law passed last year in response to national security and privacy considerations. That law requires TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell the social media service to a US-based company or essentially be off limits in the US. The initial deadline, set for January, has already been extended three times as Trump has teased progress on the matter.
Neither TikTok nor the Treasury Department responded to requests for comment.
An agreement over TikTok has been complicated by ongoing trade warring between the US and China and a new ruling against US-based Nvidia. China claims Nvidia has violated anti-monopoly laws in that country.Â
Skepticism about a TikTok deal
Even with the administration’s suggestion that a deal is imminent, it’s possible that TikTok’s future could remain in limbo even longer.
“I have seen the TikTok negotiations stall and shift so many times that I am not holding my breath on a deal being completed this week,” said Star Kashman, founder of Cyber Law Firm, who’s been following the TikTok saga. “Every time we hear about progress or a framework getting reached, some external complication throws the whole negotiation back into limbo.”
Tariffs and the Nvidia claims have further complicated what was already a complex negotiation over TikTok, she said. “It is likely that too much is already at play, including ByteDance’s potential obligations to the Chinese government, national security concerns, and privacy issues, as well as the desire to keep TikTok’s addictive algorithm, without isolating and segregating US users.”
Kashman said that none of the parties have been transparent about what would happen to TikTok under US ownership, including addressing reports that a US-only TIkTok app would be offered.Â
Negotiation factors
If a deal is reached to keep TikTok available in the US, it could be just the start of wrangling over the platform’s future, said one expert on US-China relations.
“The Chinese generally look at the signing of a deal as the beginning of negotiations, not the end,” said Usha Haley, Barton Distinguished Chair in International Business at Wichita State University. “So the devil will be in the details as they unfold over several years.”
Haley said that any deal would be subject to congressional scrutiny and could set a precedent for how future foreign-based apps operate in the US.
The Trump administration would likely insist on US-based storage of TikTok data, independent oversight and insulation from Chinese legal and political demands, while China’s government would want to protect its tech champion and maintain cultural influence, she said.
Whatever requirements the US imposes, Haley said, China might still find a way to maintain some control over TikTok by “keeping some possibly secret doors and trapdoors open for intervention in the future, if needed.”
Technologies
Bessent reportedly tells Russia it won’t get economic relief until it ends Ukraine war
The meeting underscored Washington’s willingness to reopen diplomatic talks with Moscow, as Europe intends to isolate the nation while the war continues.
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Technologies
Venezuela awards 100-year concessions across 17 oil fields to U.S.-backed company NABEP, according to the White House
The White House announced that Venezuela has granted century-long concessions across 17 oil fields to NABEP, a U.S.-backed energy firm. The agreement marks a major expansion of American energy interests in the country.
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Technologies
Tehan Calls for Return to June Agreement, Crude Climbs as Trump Pledges to Strike Iran Forcefully
Oil prices climbed Tuesday amid fears of escalation after fresh U.S.-Iran military strikes and unrest in the Strait of Hormuz, as Tehran urged Washington to return to the June interim deal and Trump promised to hit Iran hard.
Oil prices extended gains Tuesday as traders mulled the threat of escalation, following the resumption of U.S.-Iran military strikes and more turmoil in the Strait of Hormuz.
A tanker was struck by three unknown projectiles while transiting Hormuz on Monday, according to an incident report from the the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Centre.
Brent
The tanker was sailing in the southern shipping lane close to the Omani coast, the UKMTO said, adding that no casualties were reported.
Iran launched an attack on two American bases in Jordan on Monday in retaliation for the U.S. strike on its Larak Island. American forces targeted two Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island on Sunday, reportedly killing three, saying that Tehran intended to launch rockets carrying sea mines into the Hormuz Strait.
The small island, located in the strait, has been a critical military and shipping control point for Iranian forces, helping them keep a firm grip on vessel traffic through one of the world’s most critical maritime routes.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit on Tuesday that Tehran would immediately reciprocate if Washington agreed to return to its commitments under the interim deal signed in June, according to the Iranian Student News Agency.
The back-and-forth hostilities marked the first time that the U.S. and Iran traded strikes in over a month.
While neither side appeared to be seeking a return to full-scale war, both signaled they were prepared to respond to further attacks. “We are going to hit them hard,” President Donald Trump told Fox News on Monday, saying that “there will be a response” to Iran’s attacks on U.S. military bases in the region.
Analysts largely view the U.S. strike on Larak Island as an attempt to break a deadlock rather than a shift in strategy. “By hitting the launchers rather than broader Iranian military infrastructure, the U.S. appears to be punishing a specific behaviour rather than, at least for now, broadening its war aims,” said Ali Vaez, deputy program director at International Crisis Group.
“It is enforcing the blockade,” said Jason Brodsky, policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran, adding that the Trump administration’s goal was to further degrade Tehran’s capabilities to mine the Strait of Hormuz, while focusing on economic coercive measures as the midterm elections approach.
Washington has ramped up pressure to squeeze Iran’s already-torn economy with “secondary sanctions” that punish nations and businesses buying Iranian crude oil. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday, on the sidelines of the Group of 20 finance ministers gathering, that Iran was “lashing out kinetically” because the new sanctions were taking a toll on its economy.
Speaking from the Oval Office on Monday, Trump reportedly said Iran’s financial systems, armed forces, and governing body have been largely degraded. “It doesn’t mean we won’t smack them to see what happens,” the president said.
The war, now stretching into its seventh month, has disrupted global energy supplies and sent shock waves through global financial markets.
“This is fundamentally an endurance contest,” said Brodsky, as Trump has demonstrated an “unpredictability” that should concern the Iranians, and Tehran may lash out more aggressively militarily as the economic pressure mounts.
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