U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on Monday that the U.S. and China reached a tentative “framework” agreement on the fate of TikTok, stopping the clock on a ban and possibly transferring the app into U.S.-controlled ownership.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will speak on Friday to approve the deal, which, according to Bessent, is an agreement between “two private parties.” Trump has already extended a ‘sell-or-ban’ deadline for the app three times.
The exact details of the TikTok deal and what concessions the U.S. has offered to China remain unclear. If approved, however, the agreement would represent the first major deal between the U.S. and China since Trump returned to office and could grease the rails for a broader bilateral trade deal and even a visit by Trump to China. Talks will continue in October.
Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer spoke with their Chinese counterparts over two days in Madrid, Spain. The talks centred around TikTok, but also touched on critical minerals, export controls, and China-Russia relations. The Madrid meeting was the fourth round of talks between high-level U.S. and Chinese officials in four months. Despite ongoing tensions, Beijing called this week’s talks “respectful, in-depth, and productive.”
During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump released a video imploring Americans to “vote for Trump... to save TikTok in America!” (Trump initially tried to ban the app through an executive order in 2020.) There are an estimated 170 million active TikTok accounts in the U.S.
A March survey by the Pew Research Center suggested 34 per cent of Americans supported a TikTok ban. Ottawa has so far opted against a ban but ordered TikTok Canada to shutter its offices in November 2024.
Tit-for-tat over tech
In the leadup to talks in Madrid, the U.S. and China traded jabs over tech. The U.S. added 32 entities — including 24 China-based entities — to the Commerce Department's export ‘blacklist,’ including two firms accused of helping a Chinese semiconductor company procure restricted materials. Earlier this month, NASA barred Chinese nationals with valid U.S. visas from working at its facilities, further tightening controls around high-tech collaboration.
In response, Beijing launched two probes targeting the U.S. semiconductor industry: an anti-discrimination investigation into U.S. trade policy on Chinese chips and a related anti-dumping case. And while talks in Madrid unfolded on Monday, China’s antimonopoly regulator accused U.S.-based Nvidia of breaking Chinese antitrust laws.
Moe plants the seed for canola resolution
Canada is also grappling with the push-and-pull of a trade dispute with China. In August, Beijing imposed a preliminary tariff of 75.8 per cent on Canadian canola seed exports, then extended its probe into Canadian canola until March 2026.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe embarked on a trade mission to China, Japan, and South Korea last week, accompanied by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s parliamentary secretary, Kody Blois. Upon returning, Moe told reporters that China is “very interested in... looking forward in a pragmatic and reasonable fashion.” He expects “federal ministers” to be “on the ground” in China soon.
Carney could meet Xi on the margins of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ summit in South Korea in October or at the G20 summit in South Africa in November.
