U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that Washington and Beijing have established a “framework for a TikTok deal” days before the deadline (September 17) that could have banned the social media platform in the United States. The agreement, reached during trade talks in Madrid, could potentially end months of uncertainty for the app’s estimated 170 million U.S. users.

“We were very focused on TikTok and making sure that it was a deal that is fair for the Chinese and completely respects U.S. national security concerns, and that’s the deal we reached,” Bessent stated.

While specific terms remain undisclosed, the agreement appears to address longstanding concerns about ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, maintaining control over the platform’s algorithm.

Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Li Chenggang confirmed through state news agency Xinhua that the two sides reached a “basic framework consensus properly resolving TikTok-related issues through cooperative means, reducing investment barriers, and promoting relevant economic and trade cooperation.”

U.S. President Donald Trump indicates on Truth Social that an agreement has been secured for “a company that young people in our country very much wanted to save.” Trump said he has plans to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday (September 19).

Executive Branch Involvement

The White House reports that Trump and Vice President JD Vance consulted with Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer about the framework on Sunday, September 14. According to a White House official, Vance’s counsel is playing a significant role in the Madrid negotiations.

“President Trump and Vice President Vance provided the leadership and foresight necessary to produce a framework deal that fulfills another campaign promise and saves TikTok,” a spokesperson for Vance said in a statement.

Regulatory Timeline

TikTok faces a September 17 deadline under the most recent executive order extension. The 2024 law, upheld by the Supreme Court, requires ByteDance to sell to a U.S.-based company or cease U.S. operations.

Previous potential U.S. bidders include venture capital group Andreessen Horowitz, Amazon, asset management firm Blackstone, and tech giant Oracle, whose co-founder Larry Ellison maintains close ties with Trump.

Jeffrey Yass, who holds approximately 7% of TikTok, valued at up to $21 billion last year, has invested heavily in lobbying efforts to protect the app. NBC News previously reported that Yass donated $16 million to Trump’s super PAC, including $1 million shortly before Trump’s inauguration and an additional $15 million in early March.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick articulated the administration’s position regarding TikTok ownership requirements. “Unless it’s owned by Americans and the algorithm is controlled by Americans … the president knows, if we’re going to have TikTok here, that’s got to go,” Lutnick recently told CNBC. “If the president can get that, he’s going to keep TikTok. If you can’t, it’s going to go dark.”

The Treasury Department declined to elaborate to NBC News on which entities might acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations or specific algorithm control arrangements, describing the matter as “between two private parties.”

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