The US could be about to force ByteDance, the Chinese tech giant that owns TikTok, to divest its US business or effectively ban the app, Report informs via CNBC.
But a sale looks unlikely — not least because China is expected to block it.
The House on Wednesday approved a bill that requires ByteDance to divest TikTok, the social media platform it owns, within roughly six months for the app “to remain available in the United States.” This legislation is not yet law and needs approval from the Senate.
Washington has long contended that TikTok poses a national security threat as American data could get into the hands of the Chinese government.
Lawmakers in the US are also concerned about the short video app’s alleged ties to the Chinese Communist Party, which the company has denied.
If the bill is passed, however, the Chinese government is unlikely to approve the divestiture of TikTok’s US business.
“The problem is that the Chinese government is unlikely to approve this type of forced … merger and acquisition,” Paul Triolo, an associate partner at consulting firm Albright Stonebridge, told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Thursday.
“Any kind of divestiture and then merger with another company or acquisition would have to be approved by the Chinese government, which would probably reject that and is probably advising ByteDance that it would reject that.”
Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Thursday that the US bill is “at odds with the principles of fair competition and international trade rules,” according to an NBC News translation.
“If the pretext of national security can be used to suppress excellent companies from other countries arbitrarily, there is no fairness or justice to speak of. It is a complete logic of theft to see something good and try to take it for oneself by any means necessary.”
China is widely expected to block a deal, not least because this isn’t the first time the issue has arisen.
Last year, the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) told ByteDance to divest TikTok or face a ban. At the time, Shu Jueting, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce, said the country would “firmly oppose” a move by the US to mandate a sale of TikTok.
TikTok is one of the world’s biggest social media apps, posing a serious challenge to the likes of Facebook owner Meta and Snap. TikTok was the most downloaded social media app in the US in 2023, according to market insight firm Sensor Tower.
