TikTok will either transition to American control or go dark, according to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
President Donald Trump took office as a deadline approached for the popular app to be wrenched from Chinese control or go dark on American devices.
Legislation approved by Congress said TikTok needed to be broken away from its Chinese owner, ByteDance, because as a Chinese company, all data ByteDance might access could be turned over to the Chinese government.
Trump has said he wants to keep the app, and he has extended the deadlines for when TikTok must be spun off.
The next deadline is Sept. 17, according to USA Today.
Lutnikck was asked about the progress of talks during a CNBC interview posted to YouTube.
“It’s got to come out of Chinese control,” he said.
Do you think TikTok should be banned on American phones?
“We’ve made the decision. You can’t have Chinese control and have something on 100 million American phones,” Lutnick said. “That’s just not — that’s just not OK.”
“So, if it’s in American control, you know, China can have a little piece, or ByteDance, the current owner, can keep a little piece,” he said. “But basically Americans will have control, Americans will own the technology, and Americans will control the algorithm.
“That’s something Donald Trump is willing to do,” Lutnick said.
Lutnick said China knows what Trump wants.
“If that deal gets approved by the Chinese, then that deal will happen. If they don’t approve it, then TikTok is going to go dark,” Lutnick said.
“And those decisions are coming very soon, so let’s see what the Chinese do. They’ve got to approve it. The deal is over to them right now,” he said.
Lutnick said the future of TikTok was “not really part of the trade talks” with China that are taking place.
“But you can’t really go meet somebody and not bring up the topics that are open,” Lutnick said. “It’s not officially a part of it, but unofficially, of course, it’s going to be discussed.
A deal that appeared to be moving forward in the spring would have created an American company to operate TikTok.
That deal died amid volleys of tariffs and sharp words between China and the U.S., according to the New York Post.
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