Trump and China reach groundbreaking TikTok deal after years-long battle over the app

Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping have finalized a deal to transfer TikTok to new owners after a years-long struggle over the social media app.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CBS News’s Face The Nation that the two world leaders will ‘consummate’ the deal when they meet in Korea on Thursday.

‘All the details are ironed out,’ Bessent said as he delivered the news on Sunday.

He refused to divulge any further details about who the new owner of the app will be.

Bessent said: ‘We reached a final deal on TikTok. We reached one in Madrid, and I believe that as of today, all the details are ironed out, and that will be for the two leaders to consummate that transaction on Thursday in Korea.’

He noted that he wasn’t part of the ‘commercial side of the transaction.’

This marks a historic end to the power struggle over the app – which has quickly become one the world’s most popular social media platforms.

Meanwhile, US – China trade tensions appeared to cool Sunday before the leaders’ upcoming meeting, with each side saying a deal was nearing between the world’s two largest economies.

Donald Trump and China ‘s Xi Jinping are seen in Florida in 2017. The two world leaders are expected to meet in Korea on Thursday

The agreement marks a historic end to the power struggle over the app – which has quickly become one the world’s most popular social media platforms. Pictured: A demonstrator holds a ‘Keep TikTok’ sign outside the US Supreme Court in Washington

Any agreement would be a relief to international markets even it does not address underlying issues involving manufacturing imbalances and access to state-of-the-art computer chips.

Beijing recently limited exports of rare earth elements that are needed for advanced technologies, and Trump responded by threatening additional tariffs on Chinese products.

The prospect of a widening conflict risked weakening economic growth worldwide.

China´s top trade negotiator, Li Chenggang, told reporters that the two sides had reached a ‘preliminary consensus,’ while Trump’s treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said there was ‘a very successful framework.’

Trump also expressed confidence that an agreement was at hand, saying the Chinese ‘want to make a deal and we want to make a deal.’

The President reiterated that he plans to visit China in the future and suggested that Xi could come to Washington or Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club in Florida.

Bessent also told Face the Nation that the threat of additional higher tariffs on China was ‘effectively off the table.’

In interviews on several American news shows, he said discussions with China yielded initial agreements to stop the precursor chemicals for fentanyl from coming into the US, and that Beijing would make ‘substantial’ purchases of soybean and other agricultural products while putting off export controls on rare earths.