TIKTOK’S owner, Chinese technology company ByteDance, said Saturday morning that it is in negotiations with the U.S. government but has yet to reach any agreement. The company “has been in discussion with the U.S. government regarding a potential solution for TikTok U.S. ... Any agreement will be subject to approval under Chinese law,” ByteDance said on its WeChat account. U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday announced on social media that he would sign an executive order to grant TikTok another 75-day extension period under the “sell or ban” law. Trump said that his administration has been working hard to push for a deal to “save TikTok” and that “significant progress” has been made, but more work is needed to reach an agreement. For the deal to comply with the U.S. law, ByteDance can own no more than 20% of the platform. It also states that the app’s U.S. operations cannot coordinate with ByteDance on the app’s algorithm or data sharing practices. Trump’s extension marks the second time that he has given the popular short video platform a temporary reprieve from the ban. On the day Trump took office Jan. 20, he issued an executive order to delay the TikTok ban by 75 days, which was to expire April 5. In April 2024, then-president Joe Biden signed a “sell or ban” bill passed by both houses of Congress, which required TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell TikTok to a non-Chinese company within 270 days, or the app would be banned in the U.S. after January 19, 2025. TikTok went offline in the United States the day before Inauguration Day for around 14 hours. When it came back online, the app displayed a message thanking Trump for saying he would delay the enforcement of the ban. “We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States,” TikTok said at the time. On March 27, when asked to comment on reports that U.S. President Donald Trump said that he would be willing to reduce tariffs on China to get a deal done with TikTok, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said that China has made its stance clear on TikTok multiple times, and China’s stance on opposing additional tariffs is consistent and clear.(SD-Agencies) | 