Trump extends TikTok’s “sell or ban” deadline for the third time

The White House confirmed that US President Trump will extend the implementation period of TikTok’s “sell or ban” bill for the third time, giving the short video platform another 90 days to find a non-Chinese buyer. White House Press Secretary Levitt said on Tuesday that Trump will sign the relevant executive order this week. She said: “As President Trump has mentioned many times, he does not want TikTok to be offline. This extension will last for 90 days, during which time the government will work to ensure that an agreement is reached so that the American people can continue to use TikTok and ensure that their data is safe.” Trump said in response to media inquiries earlier on Tuesday that he is likely to extend the grace period of TikTok’s “sell or ban”. Last year, the United States required TikTok’s parent company ByteDance to sell or divest its assets in the United States by January 19 this year on the grounds of national security. After returning to the White House on January 20, Trump extended the deadline to April 5, and then extended it to Thursday. The third extension means that the deadline will be postponed to mid-September. The Trump administration said in April that the United States and China were close to reaching an agreement that would put most of the control of TikTok’s US business in the hands of American investors. But affected by the high tariffs imposed by the United States on Chinese imports, China refused to approve the transaction.