President Trump on Wednesday floated reducing tariffs on China to get a TikTok divestiture deal done as the April 5 deadline nears.
“With respect to TikTok, and China is going to have to play a role in that, possibly in the form of an approval, maybe, and I think they’ll do that,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday. “Maybe I’ll give them a little reduction in tariffs or something to get it done.”
“Because every point in tariffs is worth more than TikTok,” he continued.
The remarks followed Trump’s announcement that he is imposing a 25 percent tariff on foreign-made vehicle imports amid his larger trade war against other nations.
Trump’s 10 percent tariff on imports from China took effect last month, and he increased the tariff amount by another 20 percent earlier this month.
The president’s suggestion comes less than two weeks ahead of the April 5 deadline requiring TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance to divest from the U.S. arm of the application amid national security concerns.
That deadline was set under an executive order signed by Trump in January, extending the Jan. 19 deadline by 75 days.
The law banning TikTok initially went into effect on Jan. 19 — the day before Trump was sworn in to his second term — causing the platform to go dark for a few hours.
The platform was quickly brought back online after Trump pledged to issue an executive order once back in office to give the company an extension.
Trump reiterated on Wednesday that he is willing to extend the deadline if the deal is not hammered out by next week.
“We will have a form of a deal — TikTok is very popular,” he said. “Very successful, very good. We’re going to have a form of a deal. But if it’s not finished it’s not a big deal, we’ll just extend it. I have the right to have the deal and to extend it if I want.”
When asked if there is a way for ByteDance to still have a stake, Trump said, “We will find the one that’s best for the country. For our country.”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said earlier this month the president would like to hammer out a deal on TikTok’s future ownership under the current deadline, stating the president “doesn’t like to ask for extensions.”
Lutnick at the time noted there was no guarantee that Trump would broker a deal by April 5.
Various buyers have expressed interest in purchasing the U.S. arm of TikTok. This includes bids from YouTube star MrBeast and a joint proposal from former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and “Shark Tank” star and investor Kevin O’Leary.
Oracle is also a leading contender to help run TikTok, multiple media outlets reported this month.
Brett Samuels contributed reporting.
