That is your periodic reminder that TikTok may nonetheless be banned within the U.S., as a result of as of proper now, regardless of numerous assurances from the Trump Administration {that a} deal shall be achieved forward of the present extension deadline, there’s been no official assertion from TikTok, nor mother or father firm ByteDance, to verify that any such deal is in place.

As a fast recap, again in September, the White Home issued an official assertion which outlined how President Trump had saved TikTok by signing an settlement that might see an Oracle-led consortium take management of a U.S.-specific model of the app, thus assembly the necessities of the  Senate-approved “Defending Individuals from Overseas Adversary Managed Functions Act,” which went into impact on January nineteenth 2025.  

That act stipulates that TikTok, and certainly any app owned by ByteDance, must exit the U.S., as a consequence of issues round how these apps could also be being utilized by the Chinese language authorities for covert surveillance and manipulation. The one technique to keep away from this could be for these apps to be offered into U.S. possession as an alternative, which might alleviate issues about potential misuse.

Which, once more, Trump and Co. stated was taking place, so all good, TikTok’s saved, no extra worries about TikTok being booted from America. Proper?

Properly, the issue is, Chinese language officers didn’t truly approve the deal again then, Trump principally simply introduced that he had authorized the proposal which his workforce had offered. But, even so, Trump’s negotiating workforce was so assured that they’d get the deal by way of, that the White Home held a press occasion to announce the pending association anyway, and declared that TikTok would stay in operation within the U.S.

Then it was silent. With Trump issuing one other extension on enforcement of the TikTok invoice, negotiations have been seemingly happening behind the scenes, however nothing was communicated publicly concerning the standing of the deal, and whether or not it was truly, formally confirmed.

Then in December, media experiences prompt that TikTok had begun speaking particulars of that deal to employees internally, which signaled that the deal was on, and {that a} native model of the app would formally be offered into U.S. possession, which supplied reduction for a lot of anxious TikTok stars who have been involved that they could lose their following.

However as of proper now, the association nonetheless hasn’t been formally confirmed, whereas Chinese language authorities representatives have been far much less definitive when discussing the proposal.

On Christmas Day, He Yongqian, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce stated that:

“The Chinese language authorities hopes that related events can attain an answer relating to TikTok that complies with Chinese language legal guidelines and rules and achieves a stability of pursuits.”

He additional famous that whereas Chinese language and U.S. negotiators had reached a preliminary framework that might handle points round TikTok’s operations within the U.S., the CCP additionally needed to make sure that the U.S. maintains “a good, open, clear and non-discriminatory enterprise setting for Chinese language corporations” working within the nation.

For context, President Trump has additionally threatened to impose “100% tariffs” on Chinese language exports, although he has since delayed implementing this additional cost as a consequence of negotiations over efforts to fight fentanyl distribution.

However the backside line is that no TikTok sell-off deal has been formally introduced, nor seemingly agreed to by either side. Which signifies that by the tip of this week, on January twenty third, when the most recent government order interval runs out, TikTok may as soon as once more be going through a full ban within the U.S.

It’s additionally price noting right here that the deal doesn’t have to only be agreed upon, it has to have been enacted and in impact by that date. Perhaps there’s work happening behind the scenes that we don’t learn about, however proper now, nothing has been formally communicated that might counsel the TikTok-U.S. break-up is near being finalized.

So what does that imply?

Properly, most probably it signifies that President Trump shall be signing yet one more government order to withhold enforcement of the invoice, which might be the fifth time that Trump has issued an EO to maintain TikTok operating within the U.S. Perhaps that can then give all events the final little bit of time the necessity to finalize the main points, and separate TikTok U.S. from its Chinese language mother or father firm, however proper now, who is aware of, as nothing has seemingly been confirmed, agreed to, or enacted.

And with some senators contemplating how they could be capable of oppose Trump’s ongoing government orders, which withhold an authorized regulation from being enacted, perhaps TikTok may nonetheless face a full ban within the U.S.

I don’t suppose it is going to occur this week, and U.S.-China relations have seemingly been extra constructive of late. But when issues do take a flip, China may nonetheless reject any U.S. proposal, which might drive the app out of the American market.  

Anticipate a White Home replace on this someday within the subsequent two days.