The United States and China have reached a final agreement to transfer majority ownership of TikTok to American hands, with the official signing set to occur this Thursday during a high-stakes meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed the deal on Sunday, stating that all terms had been ironed out and the final step would be the formal signing between the two leaders. The announcement marks a major geopolitical milestone and ends months of tense back-and-forth over the future of the popular video-sharing app.
Under the terms of the deal, TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance will retain less than a 20% stake. The remaining 80% will go to a group of American investors, including tech billionaire Larry Ellison, Michael Dell, and News Corp’s Rupert Murdoch, aligning with U.S. laws mandating Chinese divestment from TikTok for national security reasons.
The Trump administration had set a strict deadline for divestment, threatening to ban TikTok from U.S. app stores if ByteDance failed to comply. Trump has extended that deadline several times to allow negotiations to continue.
Bessent also hinted at an economic breakthrough beyond TikTok. A previously threatened 155% tariff on Chinese imports is now “effectively off the table,” he said, easing tensions between the two economic giants. The U.S. currently imposes around a 55% tariff on most Chinese goods.
In a move that may have major implications for the agricultural sector, Bessent added that U.S. soybean farmers can expect “extremely favorable” results from the broader deal with China, potentially reversing recent frustrations over international competition from countries like Argentina.
With TikTok ownership shifting and trade tensions softening, Trump’s Asia tour is shaping up to be a turning point in U.S.–China relations.
