Trump, Xi Seek Breakthrough on TikTok in Bid to Ease U.S.-China Tensions
Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping spoke by phone on Friday in an effort to break the deadlock in strained U.S.-China relations, with the fate of TikTok high on the agenda, according to Chinese state media and a U.S. official.
The call, the leaders’ first in three months, began at 8 a.m. Eastern time (1200 GMT) and also touched on trade, the official said. Beijing’s state broadcaster CCTV confirmed the conversation but offered no details, while the White House did not immediately comment.
The outreach comes as both sides explore the possibility of a face-to-face meeting at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea at the end of October.
At issue is TikTok’s future in the United States. Earlier this week, negotiators reached a tentative framework that could keep the app online for U.S. users by transferring ownership of its U.S. assets from China’s ByteDance to American investors. Congress had set a January 2025 deadline for a shutdown unless a sale was completed.
Trump has declined to enforce the law for now, wary of alienating TikTok’s massive user base. “I like TikTok; it helped get me elected,” Trump said Thursday. “TikTok has tremendous value. The United States has that value in its hand because we’re the ones that have to approve it.”
Still, significant questions remain over the proposed deal, including the structure of ownership, the extent of ByteDance’s ongoing role, and whether Congress will sign off. U.S. lawmakers remain concerned the platform could still be exploited by Beijing for surveillance or influence operations — a claim China denies.
Trade, Tariffs and Technology
The TikTok negotiations are unfolding against a wider backdrop of economic friction. Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has sharply escalated tariffs on Chinese imports, with rates climbing to levels not seen in decades. China retaliated in kind, triggering a fresh round of trade strain.
While limited agreements since May have paused the tariff war, the standoff continues to ripple across industries, from semiconductors to aviation. The U.S. has pressed Beijing to buy more American soybeans and Boeing aircraft, and to curb exports of fentanyl-related chemicals fueling the U.S. opioid crisis — an issue China says Washington misrepresents.
“China’s effective use of sticks, like rare earths, and carrots, like TikTok, has turned things heavily in their favor,” said Scott Kennedy of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Broader Strategic Stakes
Despite the tensions, China remains America’s third-largest trading partner and the source of its largest bilateral trade deficit in goods. Beyond economics, both sides face flashpoints in the South China Sea and over Taiwan, even as Washington’s attention is stretched by the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
Diplomatic gestures have accompanied the renewed dialogue. Ahead of Friday’s call, China allowed Wells Fargo banker Chenyue Mao to leave the country after months of being blocked from returning to the U.S.
“Heads-of-state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable role in providing strategic guidance for China-U.S. relations,” said Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington.
For Trump, who has framed himself as both dealmaker and hardliner, the challenge will be balancing political optics at home with concessions abroad. “We’re pretty close to a deal,” he said Thursday, referring broadly to trade talks with Beijing.
Whether TikTok becomes the bridge that breaks the gridlock — or another wedge — may become clear in the weeks leading up to APEC.
