US President Donald Trump confirmed that he will have a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on September 19, expected to complete the deal related to the social networking platform TikTok.
The information was announced by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on September 15, showing a turning point in US-China trade tensions and a prolonged controversy over the fate of the famous short video app.
The announcement was made right after the US-China trade talks in Spain, in the context of tense bilateral relations and a deadline forcing ByteDance - TikTok's parent company - to divest capital as it approaches.
I will talk to President Xi Jinping on Friday, Trump wrote on the social network Truth Social on September 15, revealing that the recent meeting was very successful and near the end. The US leader stressed that an agreement had been reached regarding a company that young Americans would be eager to keep.
Speaking in Madrid, Finance Minister Bessent confirmed that the two sides had agreed on the framework for a TikTok deal and that the call between Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi Jinping would complete this document.
Meanwhile, Head of the China Trade negotiation Delegation Li Cheng Cuong affirmed that the parties had reached a basic consensus on many issues, including TikTok, but emphasized that China "never will exchange the principle stance, business interests and international fairness only to reach an agreement".
The phone call between the two leaders is expected to take place right before the deadline of September 17, when TikTok will be banned in the US if ByteDance does not complete the divestment.
According to the US law passed last year, the Chinese company must resell TikTok before January 2025. The app was removed from its downloads and downsized after missing its deadline, but Trump, who had just returned to the White House, has extended it several times to allow more than 170 million Americans to continue accessing it.
If the deal is signed, it will be a turning point to end the persistent dispute over the world's most famous short-form video app. Over the years, Washington has repeatedly accused TikTok of threatening national security and possibly being taken advantage of by Beijing to collect sensitive data of Americans - something the company has always denied.
