Trump and Xi set to discuss TikTok deal and future of US - China relations
Following a U.S.-China trade meeting earlier this week in Madrid, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the sides reached a framework deal on TikTok’s ownership but Trump and Xi likely would finalize it Friday.
US President Donald Trump is expected to talk with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Friday to finalise an agreement that will allow the popular social media app TikTok to keep operating in the United States.“I’m speaking with President Xi, as you know, on Friday, having to do with TikTok and also trade,” Trump said Thursday. “And we’re very close to deals on all of it.”He said his relationship with China is “very good” but noted that Russia’s war in Ukraine could end if European countries put higher tariffs on China. Trump didn’t say if he planned to raise tariffs on Beijing over its purchase of Moscow’s oil, as he has done with India.Following a US-China trade meeting earlier this week in Madrid, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the sides reached a framework deal on TikTok’s ownership, but Trump and Xi likely would finalise it on Friday.The phone conversation may also offer clues about whether the two leaders might meet in person to hash out a final deal to end their trade war and provide clarity on where relations between the world’s two superpowers may be headed, local officials said.It would be the second call with Xi since Trump returned to the White House and launched sky-high tariffs on China, triggering back-and-forth trade restrictions that strained ties between the two largest economies.But Trump has expressed willingness to negotiate trade deals with Beijing, notably for the social video platform that faces a US ban unless its Chinese parent company sells its controlling stake.Can Trump and Xi settle trade dispute?Four rounds of trade talks between May and September have been held between top US and Chinese officials, and there will probably be more in the upcoming weeks. Although both sides have backed off from strict export controls and suspended exorbitant tariffs, many issues remain unresolved.In June, Trump and Xi spoke to defuse tensions over China’s restrictions on the export of rare earth elements, used in everything from smartphones to fighter jets.The Chinese Embassy in Washington on Thursday didn’t confirm the call or any upcoming summit between the leaders, but spokesperson Liu Pengyu said “heads-of-state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable role in providing strategic guidance for China-U.S. relations.”Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Washington-based think tank Stimson Center, predicted a positive discussion.“Both sides have strong desire for the leadership summit to happen, while the details lie in the trade deal and what can be achieved for both sides from the summit,” Sun said.Efforts to finalise the TikTok dealTrump, who has credited TikTok with helping him win another term, has extended a deadline several times for the app to be spun off from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. It is a requirement to allow TikTok to keep operating in the US under a law passed last year seeking to address data privacy and national security concerns.The US leader has said TikTok “has tremendous value” and the US “has that value in its hand because we’re the ones that have to approve it.”U.S. officials have been concerned about ByteDance’s roots and ownership, pointing to laws in China that require Chinese companies to hand over data requested by the government. Another concern is the proprietary algorithm that populates what users see on TikTok.Chinese officials said Monday that a consensus was reached on authorisation of the “use of intellectual property rights,” including the algorithm, and that the two sides agreed on entrusting a partner with handling U.S. user data and content security.