President Donald Trump said he might lower tariffs on China to incentivize the country to close a deal on TikTok.
In a press conference on Wednesday in the Oval Office, Trump said China will have to “play a role” in TikTok’s sale, “possibly in the form of an approval.”
“Maybe I’ll give them a little reduction in tariffs or something to get it done, you know, because every point in tariffs is worth more money than TikTok,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday.
Trump said he could extend TikTok’s sale deadline again because it is “very popular” and there is a “lot of interest” in the company.
Under the divest-or-ban law passed by the Senate in April, TikTok had to stop operating in the US on January 19 if it did not divest itself from its parent company, ByteDance.
The ban on TikTok was paused for 75 days after Trump signed an executive order on January 20. TikTok has until April 5 to find a new owner in the US.
Several buyers, including Trump’s former treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin, and Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian, have said they want to acquire TikTok.
Trump’s comments on reducing tariffs on China come as trade tensions between the US and China escalated recently.
Trump imposed a 10% tariff on Chinese goods in February, just weeks after entering office, saying this would help curb the flow of fentanyl into the US. Trump said during his campaign that he would impose tariffs of more than 60% on Chinese goods if he won the presidency.
China retaliated soon after with its own set of tariffs on agricultural equipment, crude oil, coal and liquefied natural gas.
On March 4, Trump doubled the tariffs on China to 20%. China responded with a 10% tariff on US soybeans, pork, and beef imports and a 15% tariff on chicken and cotton imports.
Representatives for Trump, TikTok, and the Chinese foreign ministry did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
