US and Chinese negotiators have reached a framework agreement to transfer TikTok into US-controlled ownership, officials confirmed on Monday. The deal marks a breakthrough in a years-long dispute over the app’s Chinese parent ByteDance, which has faced scrutiny in Washington over national security risks.
US trade representative Jamieson Greer and Chinese negotiator Li Chenggang both confirmed that the framework resolves core issues, though commercial terms remain private. Treasury secretary Scott Bessent said final details would be settled during a meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping on Friday.
The ownership battle dates back to 2020 when Trump ordered ByteDance to divest TikTok or face a ban. Attempts by Microsoft, Walmart, and Oracle to secure the platform collapsed in previous years. Oracle has since remained TikTok’s US cloud provider under a 2022 security agreement.
The agreement follows legislation signed by Joe Biden in 2024 requiring TikTok’s sale or a nationwide ban, with multiple extensions delaying enforcement. The US hosts over 135 million TikTok users, though the app remains banned on federal government devices.
