Treasury chief: Transfer of TikTok to US control will happen “very soon”

The social media platform TikTok will officially come under American control, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview with the Financial Times.

"Everything’s ironed out in terms of the permissions, and we should see a transaction very soon," he stated.

The deal was approved by US President Donald Trump on September 25. According to the decree, TikTok will be managed by a joint venture involving American representatives. The previous owner — the Chinese company ByteDance Ltd. and its affiliates — will retain less than 20% of the shares, which eliminates control by a “foreign adversary.”

During the signing ceremony, US Vice President J.D. Vance noted that the company would be valued at approximately $14 billion after the transaction is completed.

Earlier, Trump told Chinese President Xi Jinping during a phone call that the United States hopes to promote trade cooperation with China and will maintain bilateral consultations to properly resolve the TikTok issue.

Xi, for his part, said that China’s position on TikTok remains clear — Beijing respects the wishes of the companies involved and is pleased that negotiations are being conducted on the basis of market principles.

TikTok is a short video creation and viewing app owned by the Chinese company ByteDance.

Launched in 2018, it became the leading short-video platform in China and continues to gain popularity worldwide.

By Tamilla Hasanova