US and Chinese negotiators have reached a framework agreement on TikTok after two days of tense trade talks in Madrid. The move marks the first decisive step in the years-long battle over the app’s future in America.
The breakthrough came just days before TikTok was due to be banned, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirming that the two sides had agreed on the commercial terms for switching ownership. The deal will be signed off by President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping following a call on Friday.
Until now, Beijing had resisted US demands that ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, sell its controlling stake. The sudden shift reflects Beijing’s eagerness to keep alive its ambition for Trump to make a state visit to China, with Vice-Premier He Lifeng leading the delegation that conceded ground in Madrid.
A central question is whether China will allow ByteDance to part with TikTok’s closely guarded recommendation algorithm, which sits on Beijing’s export control list. Officials remain tight-lipped on the terms of the framework at this point.
The two countries were running up against a tight Wednesday deadline that has been extended several times. Any further extensions, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said, would only be to give the company enough time to iron out the specific terms. “We’re not going to be in the business of having repetitive extensions. We have a deal,” Greer said.
If both nations agree, the framework could resemble a proposal reviewed by Washington earlier this year in which a consortium of US investors would take control of TikTok. Blackstone, once considered a frontrunner, is no longer involved, according to The Australian.
TikTok’s fate has been a political flashpoint since Trump’s first term, when he tried to ban the app before backing a tentative deal with Oracle and Walmart that never materialised.
In January 2025, a federal ban briefly shut TikTok down across the US, locking out 170 million Americans overnight. The move sparked chaos across other social media platforms until Trump intervened the next morning. By the afternoon, the app was back online, in what might just be one of the most dramatic 24 hours in social media history.
That episode has set the backdrop for the Madrid talks. Trump, who has used TikTok as a campaign tool despite earlier efforts to shut it down, struck a conciliatory tone.
“I will be speaking to President Xi on Friday,” he posted on Truth Social. “The relationship remains a very strong one!!!”
For now, TikTok is safe, but with so much still unsettled, the fragile compromise seemingly raises more questions than it answers.
