Trump says US will start talks with China on TikTok deal this week

US President Donald Trump stated on July 4 that he will begin discussing a potential TikTok deal with China on July 7 or July 8, according to Reuters.

He said the United States “pretty much” has a deal on the sale of the TikTok short-video app.

“I think we’re gonna start Monday or Tuesday… talking to China, perhaps President Xi (Jinping) or one of his representatives, but we would, we pretty much have a deal,” Mr Trump told reporters on Air Force One.

In June, Mr Trump extended to Sept 17 a deadline for China-based ByteDance to divest the US assets of TikTok.

A deal had been in the works this spring to spin off TikTok’s US operations into a new US-based firm, majority-owned and operated by US investors, but it was put on hold after China indicated it would not approve it following Mr Trump’s announcements of steep tariffs on Chinese goods.

Mr Trump said the US will probably have to get a deal approved by China.

When asked how confident he was that China would agree to a deal, he said, “I’m not confident, but I think so. President Xi and I have a great relationship, and I think it’s good for them. I think the deal is good for China and it’s good for us.”