After Xi and Trump Talks, TikTok’s Chinese Parent Company Promises to Provide Good Service in the US

TikTok’s parent company , ByteDance, pledged Saturday that its US subsidiary will “good service to the broad user base” in the United States, just hours after a phone call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart, Donald Trump.  In a brief statement carried by local media, Beijing-based ByteDance thanked Xi and Trump “for their concern” about TikTok, a short-video platform that has been at the center of discussions between the two leaders.  “ByteDance, in accordance with the requirements of Chinese law, will continue to promote relevant work so that TikTok’s US subsidiary continues to good service to the broad user base in the United States,” the company said, without providing further details. 

Speaking to reporters from the White House, Trump said Friday that an agreement with China to allow TikTok to continue operating in the country “is on the way,” and stressed that the pact will allow the United States to have “tight control” over the content shared on the app, which is very popular among young people.  Trump and Xi expressed satisfaction after making progress on the agreement during their phone call, where they also tried to narrow their positions on trade issues.  In a message on his social network Truth Social, Trump described the conversation as “very productive” and added that he appreciates “the approval of TikTok” and the progress made, although he did not provide any specific details about the framework agreement, which was pre-agreed upon at the meeting between representatives of Washington and Beijing this week in Madrid. 

The Chinese leader, for his part, said in a statement shared by state media that he “respects the will of the companies” from both countries, which must negotiate a model that will prevent the platform from ceasing to operate on US soil.  In 2024, Congress stipulated that for TikTok to avoid being shut down in the US, the company operating the app in the United States must be sufficiently separated from ByteDance, especially with regard to Beijing’s access to servers that store user data.  The White House had said that ByteDance could have a small stake in the new operating company, although Xi’s comments suggest that China could have obtained from the US a framework that is more favorable to the Chinese parent company or other corporations from the Asian giant.  With the important details of the agreement still pending ratification, this week Trump extended – for the fourth time this year – the deadline for TikTok to remain available in the United States, where it will operate at least until December 16.